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THE
SYMMETRICAL STRUCTURE OF SCRIPTURE.
THE
SYMMETRICAL STRUCTURE OF SCRIPTURE:
OR,
THE PRINCIPLES OF
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM EXEMPLIFIED,
IN AX ANALYSIS OF
THE DECALOGUE, THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT,
AXI) OTHER
PASSAGES OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.
BY
THE REV. JOHN FORBES, LLD.
DONALDSON'S HOSPITAL, EDINBUBGH.
EDINBURGH:"
T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET.
LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. DUBLIN : JOHN ROBERTSON,
AND HODGES & SMITH.
MDcccLnr,
PRINTED BY STEVENSON AND COMPANY,
32 THISTLE STHEET, EDINBURGH.
PREFACE.
THE views advanced in the Work now submitted to the
Public, and the rules of Scriptural arrangement proposed, have
not been hastily adopted, but are the result of long sus-
tained investigation of a much more extensive range of passages
than the examples selected for the present publication. The
more the Author examines the subject, the more deeply is he
convinced of the great importance of Bishop Lowth's discovery
of the Parallelism of Scripture, as furnishing one of the most
valuable aids ever presented to the interpreter, and calculated,
when its principles have been more fully developed, to throw a
new and clearer light on a great part of the Sacred Volume.
Under the powers of this new instrument of investigation, the
Sermon on the Mount is shewn to be one of the most perfect
compositions that can be conceived, not only from the depth of
wisdom which it displays, but for the exquisite arrangement of
all its parts, which constitute one grand symmetrical whole, while
yet each smaller portion is finished with the most consummate
skill and minuteness of detail. The Seven Beatitudes, in parti-
cular, with which the Lord opens this discourse, exhibit a combi-
nation of the most surprisingly beautiful arrangements and con-
nexions, disclosing a fulness and comprehensiveness of meaning,
even beyond what these Divine utterances were already known to
contain. The structure of the Lord's Prayer is, in like manner,
shewn to be most remarkable, revealing a deeper significance in
this perfect model of Christian devotion ; while the closest cor-
vi PREFACE. f
respondence is detected between its seven petitions, and the seven
Christian graces which the Beatitudes successively unfold. The
Ten Commandments, when examined by the same analytical pro-
cess, are discovered to embrace the mutual relations of God and
man with a fulness, spirituality, and perfection, marvellous in so
condensed a code, and with a precision of arrangement so definite,
that not a single line could be displaced without impairing the
connexion ; amounting to a demonstration that we possess them in
the original form in which they proceeded from the mouth and
finger of the Lord. The Psalms of David furnish instances of
admirable order in the very numbers of the verses, lines, and
words, suggestive of the internal coherence and bond of connexion
between the thoughts. The very irregularities in the succession
of the letters in the Alphabetical Psalms, which have occasioned
so much perplexity to critics, instead of arguing any derange-
ment in the text, become evidences for its integrity, and enhance
our admiration of the exquisite order, so remarkable in the
composition of these inspired songs. The examples adduced,
however, are but a slight earnest of the rich harvest to be reaped,
should the principal object which the Author proposes to himself
be attained, of inciting Biblical Scholars to become fellow-labour-
ers in the new field of research thus opened up.
But the Work is not designed for the Scholar alone. It has
been the Author's endeavour to avoid the parade of learning, by
which the meaning is too often overlaid in works of criticism, and
to exhibit as far as possible only results, in language intelligible
to ordinary readers.
With few exceptions, the rendering of the Authorized Version
has been retained (unless in the extracts from Bishops Lowth and
Jebb), in order to prove to the unlearned reader, how little the
exact correspondence of the Parallelisms is dependent on any
questionable changes in the translation.
PREFACE. Vll
The Author is fully aware of the preliminary objection which
will be taken by many to the artificial character of the arrange-
ments of Scripture given in the following pages. Such extremely
minute attention to numbers and order, as is here alleged to pervade
much of the Holy Scriptures, will repel some minds as a littleness
unworthy of the Oracles of God. The Author candidly confesses
that, when first he began to remark these niceties of composition,
he felt extremely jealous of himself lest he should be allowing his
mind to be carried away by the creations of his own fancy, and,
instead of humbly following the guidance and teaching of the
Spirit, should make the Scriptures speak his own conceits. But
the truth has gradually forced itself upon him by its irresis-
tible evidence, and forms only another illustration of the maxim,
that God's " thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are his ways
like unto the ways of the children of men." Yet why should it
be thought a thing incredible that a God of order should have
stamped this impress on the Book of Revelation ? and that atten-
tion to number, the symbol of order, should characterize His
works of revelation, as well as His works of nature ? If so won-
derful is the symmetry of the heavenly orbs, that the planets are
placed at the most exactly proportionate distances from each
other, so that the observation of this proportion led to the suspi-
cion, and eventually to the discovery, of a new group of planets
filling up the void which appeared in the series, why should not
a like symmetrical proportion hold in Scripture, directing at-
tention to, and leading to the discovery of, truths which otherwise
might have escaped observation ? One of the grandest triumphs
of modern science has been the discovery of the new planet Nep-
tune, in October 1846 — a discovery to which the observers were
led solely by the science of number and quantity, and which was
predicted with undoubting confidence by Sir John Herschel in the
following beautiful language, addressed to the meeting of the
British Association. " Among the remarkable events of the last
twelvemonth, it has added a new planet to our list. It has done
viii PREFACE.
m0re — it has given us the probable prospect of the discovery of
another. We see it, as Columbus saw America from the shores
of Spain. Its movements have been felt, trembling along the far-
reaching line of our analysis, with a certainty hardly inferior to
that of ocular demonstration." If by the discovery of atomic pro-
portions in chemistry we find a like beautiful progression of com-
binations guiding the chemical analyst in his investigations, why
should it be deemed unworthy of the Divine Intelligence that
similar definite rules should regulate the composition of His
Word, by whom " the very hairs of men's heads are numbered ?"
Whether such minuteness and delicacy of finish exist in God's
Word must be decided, we submit, not by any foregone conclu-
sions what mode of composition it became the Sacred Writers to
adopt, but by a calm and sober induction from a variety of ex-
amples, taken from the several books both of the Old and New
Testaments. This method it has been the writer's humble en-
deavour to pursue ; and he has not ventured to publish this first
specimen of his inquiries, until he had tested the accuracy of his
principles by their application to a great portion of the Sacred
Volume, and in some cases even to entire books.
He now dismisses his Work with an earnest prayer to the
Father of Lights, that He may bless this humble attempt to the
promotion of a more devout and discerning study of " the won-
drous things" contained in His Law.
CONTENTS.
SECTION I.
Paga
Discovery of Parallelism due to Bishop Lowth — Definition — Pro-
wress in the Study made by Bishop Jebb and Rev. T. Boys —
Reply to the Objections of Professor Alexander, . . 1-8
SECTION II.
Parallelism not confined to strictly poetical composition, . 3-5
SECTION m.
Different species of Parallel Lines — Synonymous, Cognate, or Gra-
dational Parallelism — Climax in Psalm i. 1, pp. 7-10 ; and in
Matt. v. 44, pp. 10, 11 — Respective functions of the Grada-
tional and Antithetic Parallelisms — Antithetic Parallelism, p. 13
— Synthetic or Constructive Parallelism — Remarkable instance
from 2 Cor. xi. 22-27 analysed, pp. 15-17, . . . 5-17
SECTION IV.
Combinations of Parallel Lines — Couplets — Triplets, pp. 18-20 —
Quatrains, pp. 20-23 — Use of Parallelism in deciding on vari-
ous Readings, p. 22 — Five-lined Stanzas, pp. 23-33 — Remarks
on John xi. 9, 10, pp. 24, 25 — Romans ii. 17-29 illustrated,
pp. 28-32 — Six and Seven Lined Stanzas, . . . 17-34
SECTION V.
Introverted Parallelism — Extensively employed even in Prose — Plan
of Epistle to Philemon, p. 40 — Remarkable instance in Psalm
Ixxxix. 28-45, pp. 40, 41, . . « . . . . 35-41
X CONTENTS.
SECTION VI.
Page
Epanodos closely allied to the Introverted Parallelism — Defined —
Rationale — Romans ii. 12-15 analysed, .... 42-46
SECTION VII.
Rule of Scriptural Arrangement exemplified in Gen. ii. 1-3 — Ap-
plied to the elucidation of the difficulties connected with the
accounts of the early history of David in 1 Sam. xvi.-xviii. —
Solutions attempted by the Translators of the Septuagint, Bishop
Horsley, and Dr Davidson — Unsatisfactory — Solution proposed,
which requires no omission nor transposition of any part of the
Text, 46-55
SECTION vm.
Co-ordinate dependence on a common antecedent — Exemplified, 50-58
SECTION IX.
The Principles of Parallelism advocated by Bishop Jebb must ex-
tend to the arrangement of entire compositions — Proved by an
examination of some of his own examples, Acts iv. 24-30, pp.
59-67— Reference in the Threefold Division to Past, Present,
and Future— John v. 19-30 examined, pp. 68-81— Relations
and Signification of the Ternary or Threefold Division, p. 75
Elucidation of John v. 31 and following context, pp. 78-81, 58-81
SECTION X.
Psalm xxviii. illustrated, pp. 82-87— Psalm xxix. pp. 87-90— Con-
nexion between the two Psalms, p. 90, . 82-90
CONTENTS.
SECTION XI.
Page
The three first Alphabetical Psalms all arranged by Sevens — Subdi-
vision of Seven into 3, 1, 3 — Apparent irregularities in the
Letters accounted for — Psalm xxv. illustrated, pp. 91-102 —
Psalm xxxiv., pp. 102-105 — Psalm xxxvii. pp. 106-114 —
Connexion of the three Psalms, pp. 106, 107, . . 91-114
SECTION XII.
Psalm li. illustrated, pp. 115-132 — Divided like the three preceding
Psalms into three Sevens — Catchword, p. 126 — Division in the
Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia into Classes of Three and
Four, p. 133 ; of the Seven Parables in Matt, xiii., into Four
and Three, p. 134 — The whole Psalms divided into Seven Books
— Subdivisions — Psalms of Degrees — Similar arrangement of
the Book of Proverbs, ' ...... 115-136
SECTION XIH.
THK DECALOGUE, ....... 137-158
SECTION XIV.
THE SEVEN BEATITUDES and THE LOHD'S PRAYER — Symbolical sig-
nificance of Seven ; of Three ; of Four ; and of Twelve,
pp. 159, 160 — Binary Division of Seven — Ternary Divisions —
Order of Creation, pp. 162-165 — Light, a triune emblem
of the Deity, p. 165 — Structural Arrangement of the
Seven Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer, pp. 166, 167 —
Examination of the Order of the Seven Beatitudes, and Si^ni-
* O
ficance, pp. 167-188 — Spirit, Soul, and Body, pp. 175-177
— Parallel between the Material and Spiritual Creations, p. 178
— Use of Parallelism in fixing the order of the Text in the
case of various Readings (comp. p. 22), pp. 182-188 — The
Lord's Prayer, pp. 188-190 — Correspondence between its
Petitions and the Beatitudes, pp. 190-194 — Remarkable Tri-
plicity in Scripture, pp. 194-195 — Threefold Temptations of
Adam and Christ — The Devil, the World, and the Flesh —
Threefold offices of Christ — Three principal attributes of God
—Trinity, ...... . . * 158-195
XIV CONTENTS.
Page
Person and Life of our Lord presented in different, yet not
conflicting, aspects by the Evangelists, p. 325 — Definition of
Inspiration, p. 327 — Necessity of distinguishing between Objec-
tive and Subjective Inspiration, as confounded by Mr Maurice,
pp. 327-331 — Plenary Inspiration claimed by Scripture itself,
p. 331 — Prevalent misapprehension of the doctrine — Theory of
Partial Inspiration self-confuting — Leads to inconsistencies —
Answer. to Objection from Luke's Preface, pp. 335, 336 —
Plenary Inspiration a question only for the Believer — Demon-
strable Historical Mistakes asserted by Mr Alford, p. 337, 1st,
in Acts vii. 15, 16 — Reply, pp. 337-341 — 2d, in Acts vii.
4 — Reply, pp. 342-344 — Scripture probably one organic
whole, . ..... . . . 324-345
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
SECTION I.
To BISHOP LOWTH we owe the discovery of the true nature of
the rhythm in Hebrew Poetry. Its essential characteristic he
has shewn to consist in a correspondence of the lines, not, as in
modern languages, in sound, but in sense ; in the recurrence of a
regular measure dependent not on the quantity or length of syl-
lables, but on the agreement of ideas ; proposing as its highest
aim, therefore, not to gratify the ear, but to satisfy the reason.
This correspondence he has denominated Parallelism, which he
defines to be " a certain equality, resemblance, or relationship be-
tween the members of each period ; so that in one or more lines
or members of the same period, things shall answer to things,
and words to words, as if fitted to each other by a kind of rule or
measure."1 By this discovery he furnished the interpreter of
Scripture with a key by which he is enabled to resolve many
difficulties in the poetical parts of the Old Testament ; that which
is obscure in one line or member being frequently rendered per-
fectly clear and unambiguous, by comparison with the parallel
expression in the corresponding line or member.
Bishop Jebb, in his " Sacred Literature," has proved that this
mode of composition, being perfectly independent of any peculia-
rities of the Hebrew language, is by no means confined to the
Old Testament, but pervades a great portion of the New. In this
elegant and instructive work, he has thrown much light on the
structure and arrangement of the Sacred Volume : and by a fuller
1 See Lowth's Lectures on Heb. Poetry, Pnelec. xix.
A
2 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
development of the principles of Parallelism than had been given
by Bishop Lowth, he has shewn that we are thereby enabled to
group a series of lines into paragraphs or stanzas, and thus to fix
more accurately the meaning of the whole, and the connexion of
each part with the context.
The Rev. T. Boys, in his " Tactica Sacra," and subsequently in
his " Key to the Book of Psalms," has extended still further the
limits of parallelism, and has proved that it is not confined
merely to a correspondence of lines one with another in the same
paragraph, but that whole paragraphs are themselves so arranged
as to present a mutual correspondence or parallelism, similar to
that which single lines exhibit to each other ; nay, that entire
compositions, such as many of the Psalms and of the Epistles of
the New Testament, are thus arranged in the most systematic
form.
The importance of the study of parallelism, to all who desire
to investigate the full meaning and connexion of Scripture, and
the extent to which its principles have influenced the composition
of the whole Sacred Volume, seem nevertheless to have been
hitherto but very inadequately apprehended. The general impres-
sion on the minds even of those who have paid some attention to
the study appears to be, that it is a subject more of learned curio-
sity than of any real practical utility. The charge has been
brought against it, that it has rarely, if ever, " been the means of
eliciting any new sense in Scripture not known before ;" and one
of our latest critics, Professor Alexander of America, sees so little
advantage in the parallelistic arrangements, that in the introduc-
tion to his valuable Commentary on Isaiah,1 he strongly protests
against what he denominates " the fantastic and injurious mode
of printing most translations of Isaiah, since the days of Lowth,
in lines analogous to those of classical and modern verse." He
objects that this mode of typography disappoints by exciting the
expectation, which cannot be realized, of a poetical metre in the
strict sense of the term. Surely this is a prejudice, which a very
little trouble on the part of the reader, when once warned of the
fallacy of his pre-conceptions, might enable him easily to stir-'
mount. And if the practice has commended itself to the good
1 P. XL. of the Glasgow edition.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 3
taste and sense of most nations not to print poetry continuously
like prose, as we sometimes see done in German hymn-books, but
to aid the ear by the eye in tracing the harmony and correspond-
ences in the sound, why should exception be taken to the employ-
ment of the same auxiliary to serve the far more important end
of tracing the harmony and correspondences in the sense ? With-
out the assistance thus afforded by marking to the eye the termi-
nation of the lines, it would often be very difficult to discover
those which correspond, and next to impossible, in a passage of
any length, to trace out the complicated relations which, in the
subsequent pages it will be shewn, often subsist between them.
The object, therefore, proposed in the following Work, is to
attempt to rescue the study of parallelism from the disrepute into
which it has fallen, and to evince, by a variety of examples, and
by the examination, according to its principles, of one entire com-
position, Christ's Sermon on the Mount, that it is calculated to
furnish to the student a most valuable aid for the investigation
of the true meaning and connexion of Scripture.
SECTION II.
Before proceeding to lay before the reader a short account of
the labours of others in this department of Scripture criticism, it
may be of consequence to anticipate an objection which will pro-
bably present itself at the outset, on examining several of the
examples about to be given.
In stating Parallelism to be the formal characteristic of He-
brew poetry, as rhyme or metre is of modern verse, it is by no
means to be understood that its use is therefore confined to those
compositions, which on other grounds, such as their elevated dic-
tion or splendour of imagery, we should pronounce to be poetical.
Whenaver a prophet or moral teacher was affected by any strong
emotion, or became at all excited by his subject, his language
naturally assumed the measured step, and rhythmical cadence of
the sententious parallelism. Thus, when Moses descended from
Mount Sinai accompanied by Joshua, and the sounds of Israel's
revelry around the golden calf first struck on their ears, Moses'
4 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
spirit was kindled within him, and to Joshua's remark, " The
voice of war is in the camp," he replied :
Not the voice of the shout for victory,
Nor the voice of the shout for defeat,
But the voice of mirthful song I hear.
EXODUS xxxii. 18.
On Saul's return from the expedition against the Amalekites,
whom God had commanded him to go and utterly destroy with
all that belonged to them, to his very inadequate excuse for the
imperfect fulfilment of this commission that " the rest of the sheep
and oxen had been spared to sacrifice unto the Lord in Gilgal,"
Samuel began, " more in sorrow than in anger," to repeat to him
the heavy message with which God had, the night before, charged
him to the monarch ; but when the king impatiently repeated his
former plea as if it had formed a full justification for his partial
obedience, the excited feelings of the prophet found*vent in the
indignant strains :
Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to hearken than the fat of rams ;
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because thou hast rejected the voice of the LORD,
He hath also rejected thee from being king.
1 SAMUEL xv. 22, 23.
The few brief words of lamentation which escaped from David
over the grave of Abner form a rhythmical stanza of four lines, of
which the fourth corresponds to the first, and the third to the
second :
As dieth a criminal, did Abner die?1
Thy hands were not pinioned,
Nor thy feet put in fetters :
As one falleth before treacherous men, so fellest thou !
2 SAMUEL iii. 34.
1 " Died Abner, as a felon dieth ? " That is : Were Joab's excuse available that
Abner deserved to die as a rebel, then should he have been legally apprehended and im-
prisoned, in order subsequently to be tried and convicted according to the full forms of
justice, and not have been basely and foully murdered under the guise of friendship.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 5
We need not therefore be surprised — nay, it would be strange
were it otherwise — to find the style of the ancient prophets
adopted in all the longer addresses of our Saviour, or in the many
fervid and impassioned appeals which a Paul or a Peter address
to the disciples in their epistles.
But even where the subject is essentially prosaic, if we recol-
lect that metre is occasionally employed among ourselves with
the simple view of impressing dry details on the memory, we
cannot in fairness object to the use of Parallelism, should it be
shewn to extend even to the Decalogue and Laws of Moses.
SECTION III.
As the subject will probably be new to many readers, we shall
begin with giving some account of the different species of Paral-
lelism hitherto noticed by previous writers.
Parallel lines were classified by Bishop Lowth under three
species : —
I. Parallel lines synonymous (or gradational) ;
II. Parallel lines antithetic ;
III. Parallel lines synthetic, or constructive ;
the two first being dependent on the two great laws of the asso-
ciation of ideas, resemblance, and contrast ; while the third is
founded simply upon a resemblance in the form of construction and
progression of the thoughts.
Bishop Jebb has added a fourth species, which he has named, —
IV. Parallel lines introverted.
I. PARALLEL LINES GRADATIONAL.
These were termed by Bishop Lowth synonymous, because he
conceived that they expressed the same sense in different but
O SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
equivalent terms. Bishop Jebb, however, has ably vindicated the
language of Scripture from the imputation of such unmeaning
tautology to which it would thus be justly liable ; and has shewn
that the second or responsive clause always diversifies the pre-
ceding clause, generally so as to rise above it, forming a sort of
climax in the sense, though sometimes by a descending scale in
the value of the related terms. He accordingly proposed the term
Cognate as more correctly descriptive of this species ; but since
there is always a gradation in the sense either in the ascending
or descending scale, a subsequent critic1 has suggested the term
Crradational as still more expressive of its distinctive character ;
and this designation we shall therefore adopt as being the most
appropriate.
Bishop Lowth had given, as an example of parallel lines syno-
nymous, the following passage from Isaiah, consisting of three
couplets, the second line of each of which he considered merely as
a sort of echo or repetition of the first, designed to deepen its im-
pression by reiteration : —
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found ;
Call ye upon him, while he is near :
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts :
And let him return to Jehovah, and he will compassionate him ;
And unto our God, for he aboundeth in forgiveness.
ISAIAH Iv. 6, 7.
Here, however, as Bishop Jebb has pointed out, we may ob-
serve a gradation of member above member, and line above line,
in each couplet of the stanza.
" In the first line, men are invited to seek Jehovah, not know-
ing where he is, and on the bare intelligence that he may be
found ; in the second line, having found Jehovah, they are en-
couraged to call upon him, by the assurance that he is NEAR.
In the third line, the wicked, the positive and presumptuous sin-
ner, is warned to forsake Ms way, his habitual course of iniquity ;
in the fourth line, the unrighteous, the negatively wicked, is
called to renounce the very thought of sinning. While in the last
line, the appropriative and encouraging title OUR GOD, is substi-
1 British Critic for 1820, pp. 585, 586.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 7
tuted for the awful name of JEHOVAH ; and simple compassion
is heightened into overflowing mercy and forgiveness." \
" Who shall ascend the mountain of Jehovah?
And who shall stand within his holy place ?
The clean of hands, and the pure in heart.
PSALM xxiv. 3, 4.
" To ascend marks progress ; to stand, stability and confirma-
tion : the mountain of Jehovah, the site of the divine sanctuary ;
his holy place, the sanctuary itself : and in correspondence with
the advance of the two lines which form the first couplet, there is
an advance in the members of the third line : the clean of hands ;
and the pure in heart : the clean of hands, shall ascend the moun-
tain of Jehovah : the pure in heart, shall stand within his holy
place."2
How blessed is the man !
Who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly ;
Nor stood in the way of sinners ;
Nor sat in the seat of the scornful. — PSALM i. 1.
Here the last three lines alone come under the denomination of
gradational parallelisms, the first line, " the exclamation with
which the Psalm opens, belonging equally to each line of the suc-
ceeding triplet. In the triplet itself, each line consists of three
members ; and the lines gradually rise, one above the other, not
merely in their general sense, but specially throughout their cor-
responding members. To walk, implies no more than casual in-
tercourse ; to stand, closer intimacy ; to sit, fixed and permanent
connection : the counsel, the ordinary place of meeting, or public
resort ; the way, the select and chosen footpath ; the seat, the
habitual and final resting place : the ungodly, negatively wicked ;
sinners, positively wicked ; the scornful, scoffers at the very name
or notion of piety and goodness."3
Bishop Jebb has most justly protested against the false criti-
cism of Gataker, who " denies the existence of this triple climax,
and would work up this beautiful series of well-discriminated
moral pictures, into one colourless and undistinguished mass.
Gataker's sentiments have been re-echoed by several of the later
1 Jebb's Sacred Literature, p.p. 37, 38. 2 Ibid. p. 40, 8 Ib'td\ p. 41.
8 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
German commentators on the Psalms, among whom we are sur-
prised to find the most distinguished of living Biblical scholars,
Professor Hengstenberg. Nothing, however, can, we think, be
more evident than the reality of this climax, even on his own
shewing. " The word *£ (rasha), which we translate " ungodly,"
he remarks, " as coming from a verb which in Arabic signifies
to be strongly moved with desire and lust, and in Syriac, to be
excited in mind, and therefore properly denoting passionate, rest-
less,1 designates the wicked with reference to his inward state, his
passionate excitability, and the restlessness, produced by sinful
desires, which constantly urges him on to new transgressions ;
whereas the term translated sinner, designates him in respect to
the continued series of sinful acts which emanate from him/'*
Now, inward desires precede the outward acts ; and the progress
of vice would be thus described as beginning in the excited pas-
sions of the carnal heart tempting the young to walk in their evil
counsel,3 and to enter the forbidden territory of sin. To the rest-
lessness, which Hengstenberg considers to be implied in the word
that in our version is rendered " ungodly," corresponds, most ap-
propriately, the first of the three verbs, " walk," which, when
placed as here, in opposition to " stand" and " sit," would seem
intended to depict that feverish state of agitation which permits
not the novice in sin to rest, but keeps him in a state of continual
excitement, walking to and fro, like an " evil spirit seeking rest
and finding none ;" impelled hither and thither, as each fitful pas-
1 Compare the locus classicus for the idea, Isaiah Ivii. 20. " The wicked /s*ya~n
[har'shaim] the same word as that translated ungodly in the Psalm) are like the
troubled sea, when it cannot rest."
8 Hengstenberg's Psalms, i. 1.
3 The word translated " counsel" (~"s.y aitzah) never has the meaning which Bishop
Jebb would assign to it of " a place of meeting ; but always, according to Hengsten-
berg, signifies " counsel;" sometimes that which one gives to another, but more gene-
rally that which one forms for himself, i.e. his plans, purposes. If therefore the paral-
lelism demands, as Ilengstenberg thinks, that as " way" and '' seat" are both designa-
tions of place, the first noun must be so regarded also ; we may consider " the counsel of
the ungodly" in which the transgressor walks, to be that devious way in which passion
first leads him astray, which has no one definite direction, but many by-paths, which ho
follows according to the lust which bears sway for the moment ; but all of which end at
last in that beaten and " broad way of sinners that leadeth to destruction." Compare
Psalm Ixxxi. 12, where 'l They walked in their own counsels" stands in parallelism with
" So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 9
sion may direct j1 till by-and-by, growing bolder and more fami-
liar with vice, he ventures, having joined the multitude which
he sees thronging along " the broad way that leadeth to destruc-
tion," to " stand' fearlessly with sinners, and take his fill of every
pleasure he meets ; until at length, reaching the last and hope-
less stage, settling on his lees, he sinks down iiito the seat of the
reckless scorner.
Nothing can be more graphic, or more calculated to impress
with a dread of the first fatal step, than the picture here drawn
1 That this is the image which the Psalmist intends to convey to the mind of the
reader by the use of the word " walk," is confirmed by reference to the corresponding
term in Psalm ii. 1, IBJ"1 (rag'shoo) " rage tumultuously. " (For we may remark, in
anticipation, that the parallelism already shewn to exist between two successive lines
extends much further, so that as we have pairs of lines gradational, we have, in like
manner, pairs of stanzas, and even pairs of Psalms gradational.) Without entering far-
ther at present into the connection between Psalms i. and ii., which has, in part, been
traced by Hengstenberg, we shall only remark, that in correspondence with the picture
presented to us in Psalm L, of the progressive stages of vice, from which the righteous
man is preserved by meditating in the law of God, we have the same picture reproduced
in Psalm ii., but in heightened colours, in the expostulation addressed to the unrighteous
Jews and Gentiles for their presumptuous combination against the Lord and his
Anointed : —
"Why do the heathen rage tumultuously,
And the people meditate a vain thing,
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers sit together consulting,
Against Jehovah, and against his Anointed ?
The verbs here employed have an evident reference to those in Psalm i., but rise above
them in intensity.
In Psalm i. 1, we have the ungodly " walking" to and fro in feverish agitation, ac-
cording as their passions impel them. In Psalm ii. 1, we find the heathen in " tumul-
tuous movement."
In Psalm i. 2, the true people of God are represented as " meditating in the law of
the Lord." In Psalm ii. 1, the people of Israel are " meditating1 a vain thing" — to
" break the bands of his law asunder." Compare v. 3.
" Standing in the way of sinners," in Ps. i. 1, is heightened into " setting themselves
against the Lord," or taking up a determined stand against him ^siST1' (yithyatz'-
voo) in Psalm ii. 2.
" Sitting in the seat of the scorner," in Ps. i. 1, making a mock at God and goodness,
becomes in Ps. ii. 2, in aggravated form, " sitting together consulting" openly to resist
his authority, for such we believe to be the meaning of the verb 1~V~3 (nos'doo).
Compare the meaning of the derivative "10 (sood) consessus inter se consultantium, a
company of persons sitting together for consultation. Compare also the cognate roots
1%-tftcti, l$-tv(tai, '/£-«, fifvu ; sed-eo ; sit, set ; sitz-en, setz-en, &c.
1 The same word 13?* yeh'goo, as in Ps. i. 2.
10 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
of sin, which, beginning in the thoughts and secretly cherished
lusts of the unhallowed heart, gradually manifests itself in the acts
of the confirmed sinner, till it reaches its last and most fearful
stage of development in those words of heaven-defying impiety
and scorn, wherewith the hardened infidel endeavours to draw
others into the same recklessness and ruin with himself.
What Christian, who is sensible that such, but for the prevent-
ing grace of God, he himself might have been, experiences not
the joyful emotions of gratitude to his Eedeemer for his own
rescue swell higher and higher, as he contemplates successively
each progressive stage here depicted in the downward career of
the wicked, or can fail to discern the beauty, and to respond to
the propriety, of the climax1 in the Psalmist's exclamation, —
O the blessedness of the man !
Who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly ;
Nor stood in the way of sinners ;
Nor sat in the seat of the scornful !
This passage finds a counterpart in the Lord's Sermon on the
Mount, Matt. v. 44.
Love your enemies :
Bless them that curse you,
Do good to them that hate you,
And pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Here, as in the opening of the first Psalm, the first line is com-
mon to the three succeeding, being the enunciation of the gene-
ral principle of which they form special precepts, enumerating the
three different modes in which love to enemies can be exhibited
and cultivated ; 1st, in word, *2dty, in deed, and 3dty, in thought.
In the triplet there is a regular gradation in the development of
the character of the enemies of the Christian ; who first, when
they feel their own conduct tacitly reproved by his righteous ex-
ample and conversation, begin by cursing and speaking evil of
1 The alleged climax is an ascending series, not in the scale of moral goodness (as
Gataker's objection implied), but in the scale of conscious happiness, flowing out of an
exemption from certain stages of moral evil ; and in each of the ascending terms, the
consciousness of happiness must be measured by the magnitude of the evil from which
the good man is exempted. The Psalmist's exclamation is not, " 0 the goodness," but
" 0 the happiness," &c. — Jebb's Sacred Literature, p. 44.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 11
him. As this inward feeling of self-dissatisfaction increases, it
gradually becomes confirmed into settled hatred against him who
occasions it, till at length, becoming intolerable, it seeks to alle-
viate its torment by venting itself in despiteful usage and persecu-
tion of its detested object.
Nor is the climax in the manifestation of love by the Chris-
tian less remarkable. In proportion as the malice of his enemies
increases in virulence and outrage, he is required, by the perfect
law of his Saviour, to meet every new insult with ever-increasing
meekness, and to overcome every rise in evil by a still higher ad-
vance in good. Not only must he, by a mild answer, strive to
turn away wrath, returning blessings for the curses uttered against
himself; but even when he has perceived indubitable tokens that
the original dislike has now ripened into settled hate, he must
omit no fitting opportunity that offers of shewing effectual kind-
ness to his neighbour and doing him good. " If his enemy hun-
ger, he must feed him ; if he thirst, he must give him drink,"1
that by such a manifestation of godlike benevolence he may heap
coals of conviction upon his head, and, if possible, melt down his
hardened enmity into ingenuous relentings and confession of his
fault. And should his enmity, notwithstanding, proceed to such
outrageous persecution as to repel every manifestation of benevo-
lence in act, he can still give him his prayers, and intercede for
his persecutors with Him who can turn the hearts of men whither-
soever he listeth. If he would become one of " the children of his
Father who is in heaven," (compare the next verse, Matt. v. 45),
he must imitate the example of Him who prayed even for his mur-
derers : " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
From the examples given, it will be evident that the distin-
guishing excellence of the gradational specieS of parallelism is its
admirable adaptation to mark the nicest shades of moral good and
evil, and thus to train the Hebrew people, habituated to its use,
to this discrimination. Bishop Jebb has done essential service to
the cause of Scripture criticism in pointing out so clearly the true
nature and advantages of this species of parallelism, and vindica-
ting the language of Scripture from the imputation of gross tau-
tology ; an imputation, which, as he remarks, " could not easily
1 Compare St Paul's commentary on this passage, Romans xii. 14 — 21.
12 SCRIPTUKE PARALLELISM.
be repelled, if the Sacred Volume were admitted to abound in
consecutive pairs of lines strictly synonymous. The imputation
is not new, and the defence has been long since almost antici-
pated : — * Nothing is thought more impertinent in Scripture than
the frequent repetitions ; but the learned need not be told, that
many things seem to the ignorant bare repetitions, which yet ever
bring along with them some LIGHT, or some ACCESSION/ — Boyle on
the Style of Scripture, p. 90." " But another and not less important
consideration," the Bishop adds, " remains. It can, I apprehend,
be satisfactorily shewn,1 that a great object of the duality of mem-
bers in Hebrew poetry, accompanied by a distinction, and com-
monly either a progress or antithesis, in the sense of related
terms, clauses, and periods, is to make inexhaustible provision for
marking, with the nicest philosophical precision, the moral dif-
ferences and relations of things. The Antithetic Parallelism
serves to mark the broad distinctions between truth and falsehood,
and good and evil. The Cognate [or Gradational] Parallelism
discharges the more difficult and more critical function, of discri-
minating between different degrees of truth and good on the one
hand, of falsehood and of evil on the other. And it is probable
that full justice will not be done to the language, either of the Old
Testament or of the New, till interpreters, qualified in all re-
spects, and gifted alike with sagaciousness and sobriety of mind,
shall accurately investigate these nice distinctions."2
II. PARALLEL LINES ANTITHETIC.
" Parallel lines antithetic are those in which two lines corre-
spond with one another by an opposition of terms and sentiments ;
when the second is contrasted with the first, sometimes in ex-
pressions, sometimes in sense only. Accordingly the degrees of
antithesis are various ; from an exact contra-position of word to
word, singulars to singulars, plurals to plurals, &c., down to a
general disparity, with something of a contrariety in the two pro-
positions ; for example, —
1 This Bishop Jebb does in his subsequent pages, some examples from which have
already been given.
2 Jebb's Sacred Literature, p. 39.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 13
Faithful are the wounds of a friend ;
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
PROVERBS xxvii. 6.
Here every word has its opposite : faithful, deceitful ; wounds,
kisses ; friend, enemy.
A wise son maketh a glad father ;
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
PROVERBS x. 1.
They have bowed down and fallen ;
But we have risen, and stand upright.
PSALM xx. 8.
Many seek the ruler's favour ;
But every man's judgment cometh from the Lord.
PROVERBS xxix. 26.
— where the opposition is chiefly between the single terms, the
ruler, and the LORD ; but there is an opposition likewise in the
general sentiment ; which intimates the vanity of depending on
the former without seeking the favour of Him on whom depend
the issues of all things.
This species of parallelism is peculiarly adapted to adages,
aphorisms, and detached sentences, and abounds in the Proverbs
of Solomon, much of the elegance, acuteness, and force of which
arise from the antithetic form, — the opposition of diction and sen-
timent/'1
III. PARALLEL LINES SYNTHETIC.
" Parallel lines synthetic, or constructive, are those in which the
parallelism consists only in the similar form of construction ; in
which word does not answer to word, and sentence to sentence, as
equivalent or opposite ; but there is a correspondence and equality
between the different propositions in respect of the shape and turn
of the whole sentence and of the constructive parts ; such as noun
answering to noun, verb to verb, member to member, negative to
negative, interrogative to interrogative."51
1 Lowth's Isaiah, Preliminary Dissert., p. xiv. 2 Ibid p. xv.
14 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
f Praise Jehovah from the earth,
8 I Ye sea monsters and all deeps ;
voices. J Fire and hail, snow and vapour ;
[ Stormy wind, executing his command ;
{Mountains, and all hills ;
Fruit-trees, and all cedars ;
Wild beasts, and all cattle,
Creeping things, and birds of wing :
Kings of the earth, and all people ;
Princes, and all judges of the earth ;
Young men, and also maidens,
Old men, with children :
Let them praise the name of Jehovah ;
For his name alone is exalted ;
His majesty, above earth and heaven.
PSALM cxlviii. 7-13.
Four and twenty voices from earth are called upon to unite in
the universal hymn of praise to the Lord, which heaven and all
its hosts (ver. 1-6) had begun. They are divided into three choirs,
with eight companies in each. First, one blended chorus is heard
from earth, and sea, and air ; the deeps, with their mighty tenants,
and the resistless elements of air, fulfilling in all things his com-
mands, conspiring together to proclaim the Creator's glory !
Next, each individual object on earth is invited to swell the strain
— the loftiest features of the land, with all its productions and in-
numerable tribes of living beings, be they wild or tame, formed
to creep on the surface beneath, or to soar into the regions above ;
and, lastly, man, the whole family of the redeemed on earth, of
every rank, and age, and sex, are summoned with intelligent
voice to join and fill up the universal acclaim of heaven, and
earth, and sea, and air !
We have a beautiful instance of this species in Psalm xix.
in which the lines are bi-meinbral, that is, they consist each of
double members, or two propositions :
The law of Jehovah is perfect, — reviving the soul ;
The testimony of Jehovah is sure, — making wise the simple ;
The precepts of Jehovah are right, — rejoicing the heart ;
The commandment of Jehovah is pure, — enlightening the eyes :
The fear of Jehovah is clean, — enduring for ever ;
The judgments of Jehovah are truth, — they are righteous altogether:
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 15
More to be desired are they than gold, — yea than much fine gold ;
And sweeter than honey, — yea than the dropping of the honey-comb.
PSALM xix. 7-10.
This species is frequently employed in an enumeration of parti-
culars, for the purpose of forming into groups a variety of details.
A striking instance of this occurs in 2 Cor. xi. 22-27, where the
Apostle is recounting his numerous labours and sufferings in the
cause of Christ :
22. (Are they Hebrews? So am I.
•< Are they Israelites ? So am I.
(Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
23. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more.
In labours more abundant,
DCS above measure,
imprisonments more abundant,
(In labour
In stripes
In impris
In deaths oft ;
24. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25. b j Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, £thedeep;
Thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in
26.1 r In journeyings oft;
In perils of rivers, in perils of robbers,
b < In perils from mine own countrymen, in perils from the heathen,
In perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
* In perils by sea, in perils by false brethren :
27. /-In labour, and painfulness,
In watchings often,
hunger and thirst,
In fastings often,
In cold, and nakedness.
/-In
a < In
The correspondence in the constructions and expressions will
be still more apparent in the original Greek :
22. *E£«a/b/ siffi ;
'l6sar,Xira.i siffi •
23. A/axovo/ XI/OTOU siffi ; (<7raoa<pcovuv Xa>.ai) OTSO Jyw.
I' Iv xocro/s crsff/ufforspwj,
a ^ EC -n-Xjjya/j
u f y?.ax.a7; TEM
16 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
sv Quvdroig ToXXccx/j*
26. f 65o/T00/a/s
xivdvvoig
b -< xivfivvoig ex. y'tvovg, Kivfrjvoig e% edvuv,
M&WMf Jv TcXs/, xtv&vvois sv £gj],«,/<x,
xivdvvoi; sv ^cC^atiG-fa xivfrjvois sv
27. f Jv xo'vrw xa/
Jv
a -< «» X//XW xa/ d/'-vpe/,
In verse 23, the three lines marked (a) end; in the original, each
with adverbs, and are evidently intended to form one group, as
the first and last end with the same comparative (vsgHtfforegus, more
abundantly). The two central stanzas (ver. 24, 25 (b), and 26 (&),)
as evidently correspond, each beginning with the general heads,
" In deaths oft," " In journeyings oft," under which respectively
are ranged several special instances of each sort of suffering.
Under the first head we have (ver. 24 and 25) a triplet or stanza
of three lines, connected by the recurrence of numeral adverbs
(" five times, thrice, once," &c.). Under the second we have
(ver. 26), a quatrain or stanza of four lines, marked as forming
one group by the constant recurrence of the word " perils," and
each line will be observed to consist of two similarly constructed
members, " In perils of rivers, in perils of robbers," (xitfovo/g
xorapuv, xivBwoi? \r\6ruv, two genitives), " in perils from mine own
countrymen, in perils from the heathen/' (xiv8vvoi$ Jx yaws, xivBu-
vois s% tdvuv, where the connexion between the first and second
substantives is made by the preposition lx from, &c.) Of the four
lines thus formed, the first and fourth are parallel, since in each
the first member specifies perils by water (" perils of rivers,"
" perils by sea,") and the second by enemies, whether open (': rob-
bers,") or concealed (" false brethren") ; while in the two central
verses, journey whither the Apostle may, among Jews or Gentiles,
in the crowded city or tenantless wilderness, all persons and
places seem to conspire against his peace and safety.
Hl'lUI'TUKE PAKALLKI.1SM. 17
The last stanza («) recurs to the subject with which the first
(a) began, and which is thus placed first and last, as forming the
strongest evidence of the sincerity of his zeal as a servant of
Christ, — the voluntary and self-imposed labours (t* XOKOIS " in
labours," v. 23, ^ x^y " in labour," v. 27) which he underwent
in farthering the cause of the Gospel. The alternate lines in
this five-lined stanza (a) correspond exactly in structure. The
three odd lines, the 1st, the 3d, and the 5th, consist each of a
couple of singulars, while the 2d and 4th are plurals, with the
adverb " often" appended to each.
SECTION IV.
Kespecting the three preceding species of parallelism, Bishop
Jebb remarks, that " separately, each kind admits many subor-
dinate varieties, and that in combinations of verses the several
kinds are perpetually intermingled ; circumstances which at once
enliven and beautify the composition, and frequently give pecu-
liar distinctness and precision to the train of thought." It is par-
ticularly important to observe, that the lines are variously com-
bined, so as to form not only couplets, but triplets, quatrains, and
stanzas of five, six, or more lines.
I. Parallel couplets are by far the most common : thus,
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
Until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
And the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness,
And all kings thy glory ;
And thou shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the LORD shall name, &c.
ISAIAH Ixii. 1-5.
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD,
And bow myself before the high God ?
B
18 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Shall I come before him with burnt- offerings,
With calves of a year old ?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
Or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? &c.
MICAH vi. 6-8.
2. Parallel triplets consist of three connected and correspond-
ent lines, which constitute within themselves a distinct sentence,
and form a sort of stanza :
" Woe unto them ! For in the way of Cain have they walked ;
And in the deviousness of Balaam's reward, they have eagerly rushed on ;
And in the gainsaying of Korah, they have perished.
JUDE ii.
" Things future are here spoken of in the grandest style of pro-
phetic poetry, as already accomplished. The climax, in the con-
cluding terms especially of the lines, is very strongly marked."1
The Lamentations of Jeremiah are mostly composed of triplets,
as the acrostic form indicates, each third verse beginning with a
new letter of the alphabet :
Ah ! how doth she sit solitary, — the city once full of people !
How is she become as a widow, — she that was great among the nations !
And princess among the provinces, — how is she become tributary !
She weepeth sore in the night, — and her tears are on her cheeks !
None hath she to comfort her, — among all her lovers !
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her, — they are become her
enemies !
LAMENTATIONS i. 1, 2.
In triplets, however, only two of the lines commonly corre-
spond as synonymous or gradational.
Sometimes the odd line stands first, in which case it usually
contains a general proposition, of which the two succeeding lines
form the illustration : thus,
If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted ?
It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,
And to be trodden under foot of men.
MATTHEW v. 13.
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter, p. 153.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 19
Let your light so shine before men,
That they may see your good works,
And glorify your Father who is in heaven.
MATTHEW v. 16.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life :
Fulness of joys is in thy presence ;
Pleasures are at thy right hand for evermore.
PSALM xvi. 11.
When the odd line comes last, it forms a close to the two pre-
ceding lines, stating some general proposition applicable to them
as their result, or proof, or contrast : thus,
Awake thou that sleepest,
And arise from the dead ;
And Christ shall give thee light.
EPHESIANS v. 14.
Either make the tree good, and its fruit good ;
Or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt :
For from the fruit the tree is known.
MATTHEW xii. 33.
The foxes have holes ;
And the birds of the air have nests :
But the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
MATTHEW viii. 20.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven,
And his circuit unto the ends of it :
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
PSALM xix. 6.
I was dumb with silence :
I held my peace even from good :
And my sorrow was stirred.
My heart was hot within me :
While I was musing, the fire burned :
Then spake I with my tongue.
PSALM xxxix. 2, 3.
Sometimes the odd line occupies the central position, and forms
the intermediate connecting link between the first and third line ;
for example : —
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness :
Thou hast enlarged me, when I was in distress :
Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer.
PSALM iv. 1.
20 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Wait on the Lord :
Be firm, and may he strengthen thine heart :
Wait, I say, on the Lord.
PSALM xxvii. 14.
I will behave myself in a perfect way.
O when wilt thou come unto me ?
I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
PSALM ci. 2.
We have a beautiful combination of all the three varieties in
Psalm xxiv. 7-10 :
Lift up your heads, O ye gates ;
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ;
a And the King of glory shall come in.
a Who is this King of glory ?
• The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates ;
Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors ;
a And the King of glory shall come in.
a Who is this King of glory ?
The Lord of hosts !
a He is the King of glory.
3. Quatrains consist of two parallel couplets or distichs so con-
nected together by the sense and construction as to make one
stanza.
The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass his master's crib :
But Israel doth not know,
My people doth not consider.
ISAIAH i. 3.
Fret not thyself because of evil-doers,
Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity :
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
PSALM xxxvii. 1, 2.
Sometimes, however, the parallel lines answer to one another
alternately ; the first to the third ; and the second to the fourth : —
Fret not thyself because of evil men,
Neither be thou envious at the wicked :
a " King of glory'1 in each of the prominent lines.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 21
For there shall be no reward to the evil man ;
The candle of the wicked shall be put out.
PROVERBS xxiv. 19, 20.
" Sometimes, in the alternate quatrain, by a peculiar artifice of
construction, the third line forms a continuous sense with the
first, and the fourth with the second.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood ;
And my sword shall devour flesh :
With the blood of the slain and the captive ;
From the heads of the chiefs of the enemy.
DEUTERONOMY xxxii. 42.
That is, reducing the stanza to a simple quatrain :
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood ;
"With the blood of the slain and the captive :
And my sword shall devour flesh ;
From the heads of the chiefs of the enemy.
Again,
From without, the sword shall destroy ;
And in the innermost apartments terror ;
Both the young man and the virgin ;.
The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
DEUTERONOMY xxxii. 25,
Here, as Bishop Jebb remarks, " the youths and virgins, led
out of doors by the vigour and buoyancy natural at their time of
life, fall victims to the sword in the streets of the city : while
infancy and old age, confined by helplessness and decrepitude to
the inner chambers of the house, perish there by fear before the
sword can reach them."1
" Being darkened in the understanding ;
Being alienated from the life of God ;
Through the ignorance which is in them ;
Through the callousness of their heart.
EPHESIANS iv. 18.
" That is, adjusting the parallelism :
" Being darkened in the understanding,
Through the ignorance which is in them :
Being alienated from the life of God,
Through the callousness of their heart." 2
» Jebb's Kacred Lit. pp. 29, 30. * Ibid. p. 192.
22 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
For if ye love them who love you, what reward have you?
Do not even the publicans the same ?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do you extraordinary ?
Do not even the Gentiles thus ?
MATTHEW v. 46, 47.
" In the fourth line of this extract," says Bishop Jebb, " I have
substituted Gentiles (s0v/xo/) for publicans (reXwai) ; a substitu-
tion which, though disapproved by Mill, is authorised by several
MSS., by the great majority of versions, and by many of the
Fathers : sdvixoi (Gentiles) is approved by Bengel and adopted by
Griesbach in his text [Tischendorf, Alford, &c.]. The alteration
is demanded by the principles of Parallelism. In the first line
and its parallel the third, the terms are all varied thus :
Ye love1 . . . Ye salute
them who love you. . your brethren.
What reward have you ? What do you extraordinary ?
Now, to correspond with these variations, a similar change of
terms appears indispensable in the second and fourth lines, which
are also parallel ; and it is accordingly afforded, by the adopted
various reading :
The publicans (o/ rt\uvat) . The Gentiles (o/ I
It may be added that, according to the common reading, the
fourth line would be merely tautologous ; while, on the contrary,
this alteration gives a lively progress to the argument. Degraded
as publicans were, they might still be Jews, and they frequently
were so ; but the Gentiles were objects of unequivocal and national
hatred : the Publican might be despised ; the Gentile was de-
tested. Each resemblance, too, is thus appropriately pointed. In
loving their lovers only, they were equalled by the sordid publi-
cans, whose very affections moved only at the command of self-
love, or rather of self-interest : in saluting their brethren — that
is, their countrymen — only, they thought themselves discharging
a religious duty ; this, at least, they imagined was a virtue pecu-
Tavs a.ya.futTa.f
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 23
liar to them as Jews ; but our Lord brings home the fact, that,
in this exclusive nationality, they were equalled by the very
heathen. And here we may observe a further nicety ; the ques-
tions asked are :
Do not even the publicans THE SAME THING ?
Do not even the Gentiles THUS ?
All who loved their lovers only, were actuated by one and ike
same principle, of selfishness ; not so with respect to all who
confined their courtesy exclusively to their own countrymen ; the
Jews did this from religious bigotry, the Gentiles from national
pride ; and, as principles determine the character of actions, the
Gentiles, in this particular, could not be said to act in the same,
but in a like, manner with the Jews."1
In the two following quatrains words and gestures alternate
with each other :
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours,
A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
Thou makest us a by-word among the heathen,
A shaking of the head among the nations.
All day long my disgrace is before me,
And the shame of my face hath covered me :
From the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth ;
From the face* of the enemy and avenger.
PSALM xliv. 13-16.
In the last quatrain especially, the correspondence of the alternate
lines will at once be evident by bringing them into juxta-posi-
tion:
All day long my disgrace is before me,
From the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth ;
And the shame of my face hath covered me ;
From the face [looks] of the enemy and avenger.
4. " The five-lined stanza admits considerable varieties of
structure : sometimes the odd line commences the stanza ; fre-
quently, in that case, laying down a truth to be illustrated in the
1 Jebb's Sacred Lit., pp. 206, 207. * -<:s^ mipp' nai.
24 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
remaining four lines : sometimes, on the contrary, after 'two dis-
tichs, the odd line malies a full close ; often containing some con-
clusion deducible from what preceded : sometimes the odd line
forms a sort of middle term, or connective link, between two
couplets : and, occasionally, the five-lined stanza begins and ends
with parallel lines ; a parallel triplet intervening. Of all these
varieties, some exemplification shall be given:"1
Are there not twelve hours in the day ?
If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not ;
Because he seeth the light of this world :
But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth ;
Because there is no light in him.
JOHN xi. 9, 10.
To the unbelieving fears of his disciples, who would have dis-
suaded him from .going into Judea from apprehension of the
enmity of the Jews, our Lord replies, that to every man has been
appointed his fixed time to accomplish the task assigned him by
God ; and like the traveller who stumbles not so long as he
walks in the light of day, so no fatal evil can befal him who is
directed in his path by the full light of God's presence and Spirit :
it is only when darkness overtakes either traveller, that he
stumbles and falls. 'But here, as is frequently the case in Scrip-
ture similes, instead of drawing out the parallel fully, and indi-
cating the points of difference as well as of agreement between
the material object of comparison and the spiritual truth to be
illustrated, by a sudden transition the spiritual side alone is brought
prominently forward, leaving to the reader to fill up for himself
the other side of the parallel. The traveller who walks in the
night " stumbleth, because there is no light" — to him, we expect
to hear : but by the remarkable change, " because there is no
light in him," the spiritual pilgrim, to whom alone this can
apply, is reminded that the continuance of God's directing light
with him depends on his preserving his spiritual eye clear and
unclouded. The Sun of Kighteousness never goes down : but the
inward darkness may refuse to admit the light (John i. 5).
Several commentators would translate the last line " Because
there is no light in IT," that is, in the ivorld, referring the pro-
1 Jubb's Sacred Lit., p. 193.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 25
noun (If cbrw) to " this world" in the third line, instead of to " the
man walking." So Dr Campbell, who remarks, " Common sense,
as well as the rules of construction, require this interpretation."
To this Bishop Jebb well replies, that " the construction would be
extremely forced, if we were to go so far back as ' world' (xo'<r,«,ou)
for an antecedent : the parallelism would be destroyed, if we were
to desert ' the person walking/ the leading member of the three
preceding lines, and in the last line to take up ' the world,' a
merely subordinate member, which had before occurred only in
regimine : and the deep moral sense would be sacrificed to an un-
meaning pleonasm ; for who needs to be informed, that THE
LIGHT, that is, the SUN, does not, at night, appear to the world /
The allegorical, or spiritual meaning, is happily expressed by
Euthymius. c If a man walk in the light of virtue, he stumbleth
not into danger ; for he seeth the light of virtue, and is led on his
way. But if a man walk in the darkness of vice, he stumbleth :
for the light is not in him.' The light is wanting, not in the
ivorld, but in the individual. It is probable that the whole range
of literature, ancient and modern, sacred and profane, does not
afford a better illustration of this passage than the strains of our
great poet :
Virtue could see to do what virtue would,
By her own radiant light, though Sun and Moon
Were in the flat sea sunk.
He that has light within his own clear breast,
May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day ;
But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks, under the mid-day sun ;
Himself is his own dungeon."1
Comus.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree :
When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves,
Ye know that summer is nigh :
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,
Know that it is near, even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass
Till all these things be fulfilled.
Heaven and earth shall pass away,
But my words shall not pass away.
MATTHEW *xiv. 32-35.
1 Jelih's Farred Lit., pp. 194, 195.
26 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
In the following examples, after two distichs, the odd line
makes a full close : —
Drop down, ye heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness :
Let the earth open ; and let them] bring forth salvation ;
And let her cause righteousness to spring up together :
I, the LORD, have created it. — ISAIAH xlv. 8.
And many false prophets shall rise,
And shall deceive many ; ,
And because iniquity shall abound,
The love of many shall wax cold :
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
MATTHEW xxiv. 11-13.
I am the way, the truth, and the life ;
No man cometh unto the Father, but through me ;
If ye had known me,
Ye should have known my Father also :
And from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
JOHN xiv. 6, 7.
In this last example, the third line is to be completed from
the first, and the fourth from the second.
If ye had known me, — supply, " as the way, the truth, and the life," from
the first line.
Ye should have known my Father also, — supply, " through me," from the
second line.
In the next examples, the odd line forms a sort of middle
term, or connective link between two couplets.
Whoso is wise — then let him understand these things ;
Prudent — then let him know them ;
For right are the ways of Jehovah :
And the just shall walk in them ;
But the transgressors shall fall therein.
HOSE A^ xiv. 9.
1 Much difficulty has been occasioned to commentators by the verb " bring forth,"
*!"T??": v'yiphroo being in the plural. Why may it not have for its nominative " the
heavens." " the skies," and " the earth," salvation being regarded as the joint produc-
tion of all three — while the skies having already poured down righteousness, the fresh
growth of righteousness is attributed to the earth alone ?
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 27
Many are the things thou hast done, O Jehovah, my God !
Thy wondrous acts, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward —
(There is none to be compared to thee !) —
If I would declare or rehearse,
They are more than can be numbered.
PSALM xl. 5.
Here the odd line is inserted parenthetically between the second
and fourth, which stand in the closest connexion :
Thy wondrous acts, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward,
If I would declare or rehearse.
The verbs in the fourth line " declare " and " rehearse "
(T^ aggidah and Tr"^ vaadabberah) refer to the nouns, " thy
wondrous acts," and " thy thoughts" in the second verse, as is evi-
dent from their having no pronominal affixes.
For they that sleep sleep in the night ;
And they that be drunken are drunken in the night :
But let us, who are of the day, be sober :
Putting on the breastplate of faith and love ;
And for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1 THESSALONIANS v. 7, 8.
Occasionally the five-lined stanza begins and ends with parallel
lines, a parallel triplet intervening. Of this, Bishop Jebb gives
the following instance :
" Consider the ravens :
They neither sow nor reap ;
They have neither storehouse nor barn ;
And God feedeth them :
How much are ye superior to these birds ?
LUKE xii. 24.
" In the correspondent divisions of the second and third lines,
there is a beautiful accuracy : they do not sow ; nor have they
any storehouse, from whence to take seed for sowing : they do
not reap ; nor have they any barn, in which to lay up the pro-
duce of harvest. The habit of observing such niceties is far from
trifling ; every thing is important which contributes to illustrate
the organization of Scripture."1
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter, p 200.
28 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Another instance occurs in Rom. ii. 21-23:
21. Thou, therefore, -who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?
Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22. Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit
adultery ?
Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ?
23. Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dis-
honourest thou God ?
The various relations which these lines bear to each other, and
to the preceding context, deserve our attention.
In the first and fifth lines the Apostle reproves the hypocritical
inconsistency of the Jew in general terms while in the three
intermediate lines he particularizes three great sins of which he
was guilty, — against his neighbour, against himself, and against
his God. " The three capital vices," remarks Haldane, " which
the Apostle stigmatizes in the Jews, like those which he had pre-
ferred against the Gentiles,' stand opposed, on the one hand, to the
three principal virtues which he elsewhere enumerates as com-
prehending the whole system of sanctity, namely, to live soberly,
righteously, and godly ; and, on the other hand, they are con-
formable to the three odious vices which he had noted among
the Gentiles, namely, ungodliness, intemperance, unrighteousness
[Rom. i. 21—29.] For theft includes, in general, every notion of
unrighteousness ; adultery includes that of intemperance ; and
the guilt of sacrilege, that of ungodliness."1
The order, however, in which the sins are enumerated, is
reversed, as Bengel remarks : in the case of the idolatrous Gen-
tiles, the violation of their duty to God2 is placed in the front, as
being their most flagrant and notorious sin ; while in the case
1 Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, by Robert Haldane, Esq., vol. i. p. 198.
2 They forgot, 1. their duty to God ; Rom. i. 21-23, " Because that when they knew
God, they glorified Him not as God .... and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts,
and creeping things."
Hence 2f7/y, they forgot their duty to themselves, of restraining their appetites and
passions ; ver. 24, " Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the
lusts of their own hearts," &c.
And 3t/Z»/, they were led to neglect their duties to their neighbours ; ver. 29-31, " God
gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, being
filled with all unrighteousness," £o.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 29
of the Jews it is placed last, as, amidst all their professed zeal for
the honour of God, still lurking at the bottom of their hearts, and
occasionally discovering itself in open acts of profaneness. Thus
the two charges, viewed in connexion, form an example of what
we shall afterwards find is a prevailing characteristic of Scripture
arrangements, the Epanodos, or placing first and last the princi-
pal subject to which attention is meant to be directed : and for-
getfulness of God is denoted to be the great transgression in which
all sin begins and ends ; its originating cause to which it is to
be traced as its source, and the final, consummating enormity in
which it terminates.
But further, the first and fifth lines (v. 21 and v. 23) refer
respectively to each of the two stanzas which immediately pre-
cede, recounting the claims to pre-eminence put forth by the Jew,
amounting to ten, — in Scripture the number of completeness, —
divided into its two halves, Jive
17. Behold them art called a Jew,
And restest in the LAW,
And makest thy boast of God,
And knowest his will,
And approvest the things that are more excellent,
Being instructed out of the LAW ;
19. f And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind,
A light of them which are in darkness,
20. •< An instructor of the foolish,
A teacher of babes,
[ Which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the LAW.
ROMANS, ii. 17-20.
In the first five lines are enumerated the advantages, which the
Jew assumed to himself personally as a Jew ; in the second five
(vv. 19, 20), the points of superiority which he arrogated to him-
self above others. To the latter, the first line of v. 21 specially
alludes, " Thou who teachest another" &c. ; while v. 23, " Thou
that makest thy boast of the law" &c., returns back to the first
class of personal advantages, " And restest in the law," &c.
It is worthy of remark, too, how skilfully the word LAW is dis-
posed in these ten lines, in order to assign to it thus early that
prominence which it held in the estimation of the Jew, and which
30 SCKIPTURE PAKALLEL1SM.
it was about to receive in much of the Apostle's subsequent dis-
cussion with him.1 It forms the concluding word which sums
up each stanza, as marking the source to which ultimately may
be referred every advantage possessed by the Jew, whether as
regarded himself or others.
" Being instructed out of the LAW ;"
" Which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the LAW :"
and again, if we regard the two stanzas as forming a whole of
ten lines, it meets us at every point, as occupying the first, the
central, and the final place.
We give the remaining verses to the end of the chapter, that
the reader may see the connexion of the whole passage : —
CLAIMS OF THE JEW.
17. Behold thou art called a JEW,
I And restest in the LAW,
And makest thy boast of God,
And knowest his will,
And approvest the things that are more excellent,
Being instructed out of the LAW ;
19. f And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind,
A light of them which are in darkness,
20. b < An instructor of the foolish,
A teacher of babes,
[^ Which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the LAW.
1 It needs but a slight glance at the following chapters to see that the LAW forms the
pivot upon which the Apostle's argument with the Jew turns.
Chap. iii. By works of LAW shall no man be justified before God, but by faith alone ;
yet is not the LAW made void through faith, but established.
Chap. iv. The promise to Abraham was not through the LAW, but through the right-
eousness of faith.
Chap. v. The LAW was not the origin of sin and death, and as little can it remove
these evils ; its entering in only caused the evil to abound.
Chap. vi. We are no longer under LAW but under grace, yet this is no encouragement
to sin.
Chap. vii. Nay, we must be freed from LAW, if we are ever to be freed from these two
evils. The motions of sin, which were by the LAW, worked in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. The LAW has become to all who are under it, though not the
cause, yet the occasion of sin, ver. 7-12, and of death, ver. 13-25 ; and therefore,
Chap. viii. 2. It may justly be called, " the LAW of tin and death [a generally mis-
understood expression].
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 31
REFUTATION.
21. b Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?
Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ?
22. Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou
commit adultery ?
Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ?
23. a Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law,
dishonourest thou God ?
24. b FOR the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,
As it is written : [See Ezekiel xxxvi. 20.]
25. a FOR circumcision verily profiteth,
If thou keep the law ;
But if thou be a breaker of the law,
Thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
CONCLUSION.
26. a Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law,
Shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision ?
27. b And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law,
Judge thee who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the
law?
28. For he is not a JEW who is one outwardly ;
Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh :
29. But he is a JEW, which is one inwardly;
And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
letter :
"Whose praise is not of men, but of God.
CLAIMS OF THE JEW.
Ver. 17. IQ tne fi^ lme to which, the next ten are subordinate,
_, we have the much- vaunted name of JEW, which, in his
own estimation, already includes all ;
18. 1. (a) The highest privileges before God.
Ver. 19. 2. (b) An immeasurable superiority above his fellow-
and men, as the teacher and light of an ignorant and wicked
20. world.
32 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
REFUTATION
Ver. 21 Of b. — How inconsistent the claim to superior enlight-
1st line, enment above others, when the teacher's own niiud is
not enlightened to practise the truth !
Ver. 23. Of a. — How inconsistent the boast of privileges before
God, if God is not honoured by obedience !
Both confirmed, in the intermediate triplet ("Thou that
preachest," &c.), by the charge of the same three cardinal
sins against the Jews, as had been charged against the
Gentiles.
Ver. 24. Proof of" b — (introduced by FOR). — For, so far from
teaching others to fear the name of God, the evil ex-
ample of His professing worshipper makes it to be re-
proached among the Gentiles.
Ver. 25. Proof of a — (introduced by FOR). — For privileges pro-
fit nothing without corresponding practice.
CONCLUSION.
Ver. 26. Therefore (a), privileges will be transferred to him who
has made the most of the little light given to him.
Ver. 27. And (b), the superiority shall be given to him to judge
and condemn pretenders to knowledge without obe-
dience.
Ver. 28. For even the name of JEW, and his distinguishing pri-
Ver. 29. vilege (circumcision), will, be of no avail before the
judgment-seat of God, if it is an outward show alone
without the inward reality. — JEW or JUDAH means
" praise," (Gen. xxix. 35, xlix. 8) ; but his praise must
be of Him who searcheth the heart, " not of men, but
of God."
There remains still to be noticed another variety of the five-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 33
lined stanza, similar to what is found in all the longer stanzas, in
which the lines are alternately parallel, the odd numbers of the
lines corresponding with the odd, and the even with the even.
Thus, in the observations with which our Saviour, in the Sermon
on the Mount, introduces the Lord's Prayer, the first, third, and
fifth lines contain exhortations ; the second and fourth, reasons,
introduced each by the word, " For."
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do :
For they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye, therefore, like unto them :
For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye
ask him.
After this manner, therefore, pray ye.
MATTHEW vi. 7—9.
The first, third, and fifth lines give directions as to the man-
ner in which we are to pray, what we are to avoid, what we are
to observe ; while the intermediate lines assign the reasons why
we should shun the error of the heathen.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar,
And there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee ;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ;
First be reconciled to thy brother,
And then come and offer thy gift.
MATTHEW v. 23, 24.
Of this variety we have already seen an instance under the
synthetic parallelism, p. 15 :
In labour and painfulness,
In watchings often,
In hunger and thirst,
In fastings often,
In cold and nakedness.
Bishop Jebb gives a fine example of this species of parallelism
in the six-lined stanza :
The first man is of the earth, earthy ;
The second man is the Lord from heaven :
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy ;
And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly :
And as we have borne the image of the earthy,
We shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1 CORINTHIANS xv. 47-49.
34 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Here the first, third, and fifth lines correspond with one ano-
ther ; and, in like manner, the second, fourth, and sixth.
In Matthew vi. 22, 23, we have a similar instance in a seven-
lined stanza, except that the first line stands alone as the general
proposition — the others correspond alternately ; the second, fourth,
and sixth lines state a supposed case ; the third, fifth, and seventh,
the resulting consequences :
The light of the body is the eye :
If therefore thine eye be single,
Thy whole body shall be full of light ;
But if thine eye be evil,
Thy whole body shall be full of darkness :
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
How great is that darkness !
This species of parallelism is occasionally varied hy inserting
couplets, instead of single lines, between the alternate lines. Of
this we have an instance in another stanza of the Sermon on the
Mount:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
Where moth and rust doth corrupt,
And where thieves break through and steal :
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
And where thieves do not break through nor steal :
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
MATTHEW vi. 19 — 21.
In 1 John i. 6-10, we have a five-membered stanza, in which
the odd members are couplets, and the even quatrains :
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness,
We lie, and do not the truth ;
But if we walk in the light,
As he is in the light,
We have fellowship one with another,
And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin,
We deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and righteous,
To forgive us our sins,
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Tf we say that we have not sinned,
We make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 35
SECTION V.
The preceding are the chief varieties of the parallel lines, gra-
dational, antithetic, and constructive. A few others of less note
are discussed both by Bishops Lowth and Jebb ; for which the
reader is referred to their respective works. We now proceed to
notice a fourth species of parallel lines discovered by Bishop
Jebb, or to which at least he has had the merit of directing atten-
tion much more fully than had been done by any preceding
writer.
IV. PARALLEL LINES INTROVERTED.
" There are stanzas so constructed, that, whatever be the num-
ber of lines, the first line shall be parallel with the last ; the
second with the penultimate ; and so throughout, in an order
that looks inward, or, to borrow a military phrase, from flanks to
centre. This may be called the introverted parallelism :" —
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold :
The work of men's hand ;
They have mouths, but they speak not ;
They have eyes, but they see not ;
They have ears, but they hear not ;
Neither is there any breath in their mouths ;
They who make them are like unto them :
So are all they who put their trust in them.
PSALM cxxxv. 15-18.
In the first line, we have the idolatrous heathen ;
In the eighth, those who put their trust in idols :
In the second line, the fabrication ;
In the seventh, the fabricators :
In the third line, mouths without articulation ;
In the sixth, mouths without breath :
In the fourth line, eyes without vision ;
And, in the fifth line, ears without the sense of hearing.
The parallelism of the extreme members, may be rendered yet
more evident, by reducing the passage into two quatrains ; thus :
36 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
" The idols of the heathen are silver and gold ;
The work of men's hand :
They who made them are like unto them ;
So are all they who put their trust in them.
They have mouths, biit they speak not ;
They hare eyes, but they see not ;
They have ears, but they hear not ;
Neither is there any breath in their mouths." l
It will be instructive to compare with this a similar passage in
Psalm cxv., which, though not a pure introverted parallelism, yet
possesses a definite arrangement :
t
Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men's hands.
They have a mouth, but they speak not ;
Eyes have they, but they see not ;
Ears have they, but they hear not ;
A nose have they, but they smell not.
There are their hands — but they feel not ;
There are their feet — but they walk not ;
They do not mutter in their throat.
"Like unto them shall be they that make them ;
Even every one that trusteth in them.
PSALM cxv. 4-8.
In the first line we have the idols ; in the last, the idol-worship-
pers, equally senseless as the matters of which the former is
made : in the second line, we have the fabrication, and in the
tenth, the fabricators pronounced like unto their work : the com-
parison thus expressly drawn in the two first and two last lines,
inviting us to trace the parallel throughout the rest of the pas-
sage, and to remark the righteous retribution of God in the assi-
milation which takes place between idolaters and the objects of
their besotted worship. " Having eyes," in like manner, " they
shall not see ; having ears, they shall not hear :" having mouths
given them to utter the praises of God, they shall not " glorify
him as God, neither be thankful." Following the order of enu-
meration in the Psalm, they shall be spiritually dumb — and
blind — and deaf — devoid of discernment — powerless — and lame —
no breath nor sign of spiritual life shall stir within them.
1 Jebb's Sacred Lit. pp. 57, 58.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 37
In the tliird and ninth lines, we have two of the organs of
speech, the mouth and the throat., both singular (not as in our
version " mouths"), with the usual gradation, or advance in the
sense observable in the second of two lines, which at first appear
synonymous : " They speak not, with their mouths ; they mutter
not, even in their throat."
In the next couplet we have two plurals, " eyes and ears,"
which correspond with " hands and feet" in the parallel couplet ;
while the central line is marked as standing alone by the singular
noun " nose." These little niceties, which are not discernible in
our version, must be carefully noted by those who would trace out
for themselves the parallelisms of Scripture.
There is a farther distinction in the original Hebrew, which 1
have attempted imperfectly to imitate, in the construction of the
two couplets, which to those accustomed to observe these peculia-
rities at once groups the lines into pairs : —
Eyes have they )•,,/., • , .
•»/ , , , J > in the first pair ; but
Ears have they )
There are their hands
There are their feet
>- in the next pair ;
the first couplet denying to idols the possession of all percep-
tion, the second of all powers of action.
This form of parallelism Mr Boys has shown to prevail most
extensively throughout the Sacred Writings ; " not only in doc-
trine and discussion, but in narration and dialogue ; not only
where we might expect to meet with something like stanzas, but
where poetry, according to our ideas of it, is out of the question."
Thus—
a Take ye heed every one of his neighbour,
b And trust ye not in any brother.
b For every brother will utterly supplant,
a And every neighbour will walk with slanders.
JEREMIAH ix. 4.
In a and a we have neighbours ; in b and b brothers,
a Though he heap up silver as the dust,
b And prepare raiment as the clay :
6 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it onv
a And the innocent shall divide the silver.
JOB xxvii, 16, 17._
38 SCBIPTURE PARALLELISM.
In a and a we have silver, in b and b raiment. The corre-
spondence of b and b is more strongly marked in the original,
than in our translation ; the noun in b for " raimenf w*\°,
malboosh, being derived from the verb in b " array one's self in,"
or " put on" ®|^r yilbosh.
a Whom he would he slew ;
b And whom he would he kept alive ;
b And whom he would he set up ;
a And whom he would he put down.
DANIEL v. 19.
In a and a those towards whom he exercised severity ; in b and
b those to whom he showed favour.
Ashkelon shall see it, and fear ;
Gaza also, and be very sorrowful ;
And Ekron :
For her expectation shall be ashamed ;
And the king shall perish from Gaza ;
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
ZECHARIAH ix. 5.
The catalogue of Abraham's riches, given in Gen. xii. 16,
seems, according to our ideas, to be very strangely arranged.
" And he had sheep and oxen, and he asses, and men servants,
and maid servants, and she asses, and camels." Why are the
she asses separated from the he asses, and men servants and maid
servants thrust in between them ? If we arrange the passage in
the form of an introverted parallelism, every want of methodical
arrangement disappears.
And he had sheep and oxen,
And he asses,
And men servants,
And maid servants,
And she asses,
And camels.
Here we have maid servants answering to men servants in the
two central lines, and she asses to he asses in the fourth and
second, and camels in the last line to sheep and oxen in the first.
In one respect there seems to be some little want of symmetry ;
namely, that we have two particulars, " sheep and oxen," in the
first line, but only one in each of the succeeding. In the
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. • 39
Hebrew, however, sheep and oxen here go together as one kind
of property ; and therefore the two words are coupled together by
a hyphen (or makkaph as it is called in the Hebrew) ; thus "£=1"^,
tzon oovakar, as if we were to write them " sheep-and-oxen."1
As well the stranger as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth
the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.
And he that killeth any man, shall surely be put to death,
And he that killeth a beast shall make it good, beast for beast.
( And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour,
( As he hath done, so shall it be done to him :
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth :
As he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him
again.
And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it.
And he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.
Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of
your own country : for I am the Lord your God.
LEVITICUS xxiv. 16— 22. 2
ARISE !
Shine, for thy light is come,
And the glory of Jehovah is risen upou thee.
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the people ;
But on thee shall Jehovah arise, and his glory upon thee shall be seen ;
And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light,
And kings in the brightness of thy rising.
ISAIAH lx. 1-3.
In the first and eighth lines, we have the rising of the Church ;
in the second and seventh, the light which it receives and re-
flects ; in the third and sixth, the glory of the Lord : in the two
central lines, the spiritual darkness of mankind.3
The entire Epistle of St Paul to Philemon, as Mr Boys has
shown, forms an introverted parallelism of eighteen members. I
1 Boys' Key to the Book of Psalms, pp. 37, 38. — It is not, however, without design,
that two particulars are specified in the first line, instead of the single term " cattle,"
which would have included both. The whole of the articles enumerated are thus made
to amount to the sacred number SBVEN, the import of which we shall afterwards
examine.
* Ibid. p. 41. 3 Ibid. p. 40.
40 SCRIPTUEE PARALLELISM.
give only its plan, referring those who wish to see it filled up and
illustrated to the author's Tactica Sacra, pp. 61-68.
A 1-3 . — Epistolary.
B 4-7. — Prayers of St Paul for Philemon — Philemon's hospitality.
C 8. — Authority.
D 9, 10. — Supplication.
E 10. — Onesimus, a convert of St Paul's.
F 11, 12. — Wrong done by Onesimus, amends made by Paul.
G 12. — To receive Onesimus the same as receiving Paul.
H 13, 14.— Paul, Philemon.
I 15. — Onesimus.
I 16. — Onesimus.
H 16. — Paul, Philemon.
G 17. — To receive Onesimus the same as receiving Paul.
F 18, 19. — Wrong done by Onesimus, amends made by Paul.
E 19. — Philemon a convert of St Paul's.
D 20. Supplication
C 21. — Authority.
B 22. Philemon's hospitality — Prayers of Philemon for St Paul.
A 23-25. — Epistolary.
The eighty-ninth Psalm is a remarkable instance of a series of
introverted parallelisms formed by verses, not lines. Let us take
as specimens two of the stanzas or strophes :
28. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore,
And my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29. His seed also will I make to endure for ever,
And his throne as the days of heaven.
30. If his children forsake my law,
And walk not in my judgments ;
31. If they break my statutes,
And keep not my commandments ;
32. Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,
And their iniquity with stripes,
33. Yet my mercy will I not utterly take from him,
Nor prove false in my truth.
34. My covenant will I not break,
Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35. Once have I sworn by my holiness ;
Unto David will I not lie.
36. His seed shall endure for ever,
And his throne as the sun before me.
37. It shall be established for evermore as the moon,
And the witness in the sky standeth fast.
SELAH.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 41
38. But them hast cast off, and abhorred,
Thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
39. Thou Last made void the covenant of thy servant,
Thou hast profaned to the earth his crown,
40. Thou hast broken down all his hedges ;
Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
41. All that pass by the way spoil him :
He has become a reproach to his neighbours.
42. Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries ;
Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
43. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword,
Thou hast not made him to stand in the battle,
44. Thou hast made his glory to cease,
And his throne to the earth thou hast cast down.
45. The days of his youth hast thou shortened :
Thou hast covered him with shame.
SELAH.
The parallelisms here are evident. — To God's mercy kept for
David for evermore, and his covenant standing fast with him in
v. 28, corresponds in v. 37 the establishment for evermore of
Davids throne — sure as the witness in the sky standeth fast.
In ver. 29 and 36 we have his seed enduring for ever, and his
throne as the days of heaven and as the sun.
Though his children prove unfaithful, v. 30.
Yet will not God prove unfaithful, v. 35.
Though they break God's statutes, v. 31.
Yet will not God break his covenant, v. 34.
In v. 32, God's chastening in measure is made to correspond with
(v. 33) the exercise of his mercy and truth, to show that the two,
so far from being inconsistent, may run parallel side by side.
The limits of the next introverted parallelism (ver. 38-45) are
marked out by SELAH at the beginning and at the close.
To God's seeming rejection of his Anointed in v. 38 corresponds
the shame which he casts upon him in v. 45 — and as in Psalm xc. 7,
with which psalm the one before us has many points in common,
the shortening of the sufferer's days (v. 45) is connected with the
wrath of God (v. 38) as its cause.
In ver. 39 and 44, his throne and crown are represented as having
been profaned and cast down to the earth.
In ver. 40 and 43, his defences fail him, and
in ver. 41 and 42, his neighbours and enemies triumph over him.
42 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
SECTION VI.
Closely allied to the Introverted Parallelism is a peculiarity or
artifice of construction, called Epanodos, which Bishop Jebb de-
fines to be " literally a going back ; speaking first to the second
of two subjects proposed ; or, if the subjects be more than two,
resuming them precisely in the inverted order : speaking first to
the last, and last to the first." The rationale of this artifice in
composition he thus explains : " Two pair of terms or propositions,
containing two important, but not equally important notions, are
to be so distributed as to bring out the sense in the strongest and
most impressive manner : now, this result will be best attained,
by commencing, and concluding, with the notion to which pro-
minence is to be given ; and by placing in the centre the less im-
portant notion, or that, which, from the scope of the argument, is
to be kept subordinate."1
Of this Bishop Jebb gives the following examples :
" No man can serve two masters :
For either he will hate the one, and love the other ;
Or he will adhere to the one, and neglect the other :
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
MATTHEW vi. 24.
" In this quatrain at large there is a clear epanodos: in the first
line, the impossibility is in general terms asserted, of serving two
masters ; that is, two masters of opposite tempers, issuing oppo-
site commands : in the fourth line, this impossibility is re-asserted,
and brought personally home to the secular part of our Lord's
hearers, by the specification of the two incompatible masters, GOD
and MAMMON. These two assertions, as the leading members of
the passage, are placed first and last ; while, in the centre, are
subordinately given the moral proofs by which the main proposi-
tions are established. But the two central members are so dis-
posed, as to exhibit an epanodos yet more beautiful and striking.
" For either he will hate the one,
And love the other ;
Or he will adhere to the one,
And neglect the other.
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter, p. 335.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 43
In a divided service, the dispositions and conduct of the servant,
towards the opposite powers who claim his obedience, are distri-
butable into two classes ; each class containing two degrees : on
the one side love, or at least, adherence ; on the other side, hatred,
or at least, neglect. Now, since it was our Lord's purpose to
establish the great moral truth, that every attempt to reconcile
the service of opposing masters must terminate in disappoint-
ment, the question is, By what arrangement of the four existing
terms, may the utmost prominence be given to that truth ? The
answer is obvious : let hatredbe placed first, and neglect last, and
let love and adherence be relegated to the centre ; the conse-
quence will be, that the first impression made, and the last left,
must be inevitably of a disagreeable nature ; strongly enforcing
the conclusion, that such a service cannot be any other than most
irksome and most fruitless bondage."1
" Give not that which is holy to the dogs ;
Neither cast your pearls before the swine ;
Lest they trample them under their feet ;
And [those] turn about and rend you.
MATTHEW vii. 6.
" That is, adjusting the parallelism :
" Give not that which is holy to the dogs,
Lest they turn about and rend you :
Neither cast your pearls before the swine,
Lest they trample them under their feet.
" The more dangerous act of imprudence, with its fatal result, is
placed first and last, so as to make and to leave the deepest prac-
tical impression. To cast pearls before swine, is to place the pure
and elevated morality of the Gospel before sensual and besotted
wretches, who have
" . . nor ear, nor soul, to comprehend
The sublime notion, and high mystery,
but will assuredly trample them in the mire. To give that which
is holy (the sacrifice, as some translate it) to the dogs, is to pro-
duce the deep truths of Christianity (the ra $a6n roS 0£oD), before
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter, pp. 336, 337.
44 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
the malignant and profane ; who will not fail to add injury
to neglect ; who will not only hate the doctrine, but perse-
cute the teacher. In either case, an indiscreet and over-profluent
zeal may do serious mischief to the cause of goodness : but in the
latter case, the injury will fall with heightened severity, both on
religion, and religion's injudicious friends. The warning, there-
fore, against the DOGS is emphatically placed at the commence-
ment and the close." *
Mr Boys has remarked, that the introverted form of parallelism
is employed in the tenth chapter of G-enesis, in giving the enume-
ration of the sons of Noah and their descendants. " The first
verse of this chapter runs thus : ' Now these are the generations
of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth ;' but in proceed-
ing to enumerate the descendants of each, the sacred writer
inverts the order. The sons of Japheth come first, then the sons
of Ham, and, last of all, the sons of Shem.
Shem,
Ham,
And Japheth.
The sons of Japheth, &c. (2—5.)
And the sons of Ham, &c. (6-29.)
Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, &c. (21-31.) "
GENESIS x. 1-31.
The reason of this arrangement, however, Mr Boys has omitted
to notice. Why should Shem be placed either first or last, since
he was neither the eldest of the sons of Noah (" unto Shem also
.... the brother of Japheth the elder," &c., Gen. x. 21), nor
the youngest (" And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what
his younger son had done unto him," Gen. ix. 24) ? The inten-
tion of the sacred historian evidently was to mark the pre-emi-
nence which God designed for Shem in his generations, as the
progenitor of the chosen people, and of that promised seed " in
whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed."
But the importance of attention to the epanodos will' be parti-
cularly evident by taking an example in which the parallelism
consists not of lines, but of periods or whole sentences. Thus in
Romans ii. 12, we have two propositions stated, and in verses
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter, pp. 339, 340.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 45
13-15 we have the arguments given for each respectively, but in
inverse order :
12. . f For as many as have sinned without law,
"^ Shall also perish without law ;
•n f And as many as have sinned in the law
(_ Shall be judged by the law ;
13. „ ( FoR1 not the hearers of the law are just before God,
\ But the doers of the law shall be justified.
14. C FoR1 when the Gentiles, which have not the law,
Do by nature the things contained in the law,
These, having not the law,
A < Are a law unto themselves :
15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts,
Their consciences also bearing witness,
And their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one
another.
Here, according to the principles of the Epanodos, the case of
the Gentiles is put first and last (A and A), as furnishing the
strongest apparent objection to the equity of the doctrine laid
down by the Apostle, that " all are under sin, and brought in as
guilty before God ;" while the statement with regard to the Jews'
guilt (B), and its proof (B), are placed in the middle and subor-
dinate place. An acquaintance with this common rule of Scrip-
tural arrangement might have saved Whitby, Macknight, and
others, from giving utterance to the very erroneous doctrinal
views which will be found in their commentaries on this passage,
at direct variance with the main scope of St Paul's argument in
the Epistle to the Romans, but for which they imagined they
found a sanction in the supposed connexion between verses 13
and 14. These two verses, however, have no immediate con-
nexion, but verse 14 corresponds with the first two lines of verse
12 (A). The first proposition stated by St Paul in A is, that the
Gentiles, though they " have sinned without law, shall also perish
without law." The proof of the equity of this proceeding, the
Apostle, after having parenthetically disposed of the case of the
Jews (in B and B), reserves for the conclusion (A), to make and
leave the stronger impression ; and vindicates the severity of
1 On the two consecutive FORS, see Section VIII.
46 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
God's judgment even in this case, by the argument that the Gen-
tiles, though destitute of a written law, yet shewed, by their prac-
tising at times, however imperfectly, certain virtues required by
the law, and by the possession of a conscience, with that inter-
nal conflict of opposing thoughts which it at times awakens, that
they had a law written in their hearts, the violation of which
rendered them also wholly inexcusable.
SECTION VII.
Though not strictly falling under the subject of parallelism,
yet as being somewhat akin to the Epanodos, and closely allied
to the great object of our investigation, the connexion of Scrip-
ture, we may here advert to another rule of Scriptural arrange-
ment, inattention to which has involved in obscurity the con-
nexion of the early part of David's history. The rule is this :
That wherever attention is wished to be drawn to the relation
between two events separated by an interval containing important
details, the sacred writer omits for the present the intermediate
events, and brings into close connexion the two related circum-
stances. He then returns back, and fills up the details that had
been omitted.
A clear instance of this usage is to be found in the very com-
mencement of the Book of Genesis. In order to present at one
view the connexion between the six days occupied in the creation
of the world, and the sanctifying of the seventh day as a Sabbath,
and to place prominently in the very front of Revelation the
solemn sanction which the Creator intended to stamp on the uni-
versal observance of the Sabbath so long as the earth should
endure, by His having accommodated the whole order of His
creation to this purpose, the sacred historian omits some impor-
tant details relating to the sixth day, and concludes his introduc-
tory account of the origin of all things with the words :
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
And all the host of them.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 47
a And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made ;
b And he rested on the seventh day
c From all his work which he had made.
a And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it :
b Because that on it he had rested
c From all his work which God created and made. — GENESIS ii. 1-3.
This crowning ordinance being thus presented in its proper
connexion and bearing, Moses returns back on the course of his
narrative, and records in the remainder of Chap. II. a variety of
interesting particulars, all connected with the sixth day.
Let us apply this rule to the elucidation of the history of
David, as contained in 1 Sam. xvi.-xviii.
From a very early period, the difficulties which have been
found in reconciling the supposed discrepancies in these chapters
have appeared so great, that in the Vatican copy of the Septua-
gint translation, an attempt has been made to remove them by
omitting very considerable portions of the text, particularly of
Chap, xvii., and several modern critics, such as Kennicott,
Michaelis, Dathe, Houbigant, and Boothroyd, have seen no other
resource but to resort to this violent remedy, and to reject about
thirty verses as interpolations.
Some of the difficulties on the face of the narrative are these.
In ch. xvi. 18, David is described as "a mighty valiant man,
and a man of war, and prudent in matters ;" and yet, in the fol-
lowing chapter, he is spoken of as a youth, unused to arms, ver.
33, 39. In xvi. 19-22, we have an account of David's introduc-
tion to Saul, of Saul's loving him greatly, and making him his
armour-bearer, and his residing constantly at his court : yet in
ver. 56 of the next chapter, Saul bids Abner " enquire whose son
the stripling is :" and when David is brought before him after the
combat, Saul speaks to him as an entire stranger, " Whose son
art thou, thou young man ?"
In order to remove these difficulties, it has been supposed by
Bishops Hall, Warburton, and Horsley, that the encounter with
Goliath took place previously to David's being required to play
the harp before Saul. Bishop Horsley's arguments seem most
satisfactorily to establish this point. " It appears," he remarks,
" from many circumstances of the story, that David's combat with
Goliath was many years prior in order of time to Saul's madness,
48 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
and to David's introduction to him as a musician. 1. David was
quite a youth when he engaged Goliath (xvii. 33-42) : when
he was introduced to Saul as a musician, he was of full age
(xvi. 18). 2. His combat with Goliath was his first appear-
ance in public life (xvii. 56) : when he was introduced as a
musician, he was a man of established character (xvi. 18). 3.
His combat with Goliath was his first military exploit (xvii.
39) : he was " a man of war" when he was introduced as a musi-
cian (xvi. 18). He was unknown both to Saul and Abner at
the time he fought with Goliath. He had not, therefore, yet been
in the office of Saul's armour-bearer, or resident in any capacity
at the court."
Founding on these premises, Bishop Horsley concludes that the
last ten verses of ch. xvi. which relate Saul's madness and David's
introduction to the court upon that occasion are misplaced.
"The true place for these ten verses (xvi. 14—23)," he affirms,
" seems to be between the ninth and the tenth of the eighteenth
chapter. Let these ten verses be removed to that place, and this
seventeenth chapter be connected immediately with the 13th
verse of ch. xvi., and the whole disorder and inconsistency that
appear in the narrative in its present arrangement will be
removed."
There are two great objections to this solution of the difficulty.
1. We are obliged to resort to a violent dislocation of the text,
and to suppose that ten verses, by some unaccountable accident,
have been transposed.
2. If some inconsistencies are removed by this supposition,
others equally great remain, as Dr Davidson has shown : e.g.
From the reception which Saul gives to David when introduced
to play the harp before him, it is evident that he was a stranger,
whom if he had ever before seen he had forgotten. But is this
within the bounds of probability if we adopt the connexion of
the events as proposed by Bishop Horsley ? According to his
arrangement, David, after the conquest of Goliath, continued
with Saul, " went out whithersoever he sent him and behaved
himself wisely, and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was
accepted in the sight of all the people," insomuch that Saul be-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 49
came jealous of his rising reputation, and eyed David with suspi-
cion and envy. Can we suppose that, after all this, Saul so
entirely forgot David and his jealousy, that when David came
again before him, it could be said, that " he loved him greatly,"
and that he made him " his armour-bearer" P1
Dr Davidson's own solution, in his last work on Biblical Criti-
cism, is still more unsatisfactory, as he attributes the disjointed
and contradictory appearance, which the narrative in his estima-
tion presents, to " the compilatory, fragmentary character of the
books, the writer of which put together materials derived from
various sources, without believing it to be either necessary or
essential to bring them into exact accordance in their historical
sequence and relationship," — a theory which seems hardly recon-
cilable with a belief in the inspiration of the Books of Samuel.
The solution which we would propose, requires no omission
nor transposition of any part of the text. It is simply to consi-
der the whole of chap, xvii., and the first four verses of chap,
xviii. as an episode introduced, detailing the earlier circumstances
of David's conflict with Goliath, which had taken place many
years previously. If the end of chap. xvi. and the fifth verse of
chap, xviii. are read in connexion, the discrepancies will be found
to vanish.
To enable the reader to judge the more readily, we give as
much of the narrative as is necessary to shew the connexion, and
shall distinguish the part which we consider to be episodical, and
relating to an earlier period of David's history, by Italics :
1 SAMUEL xvi. 13 — xviii. 11.
CHAP. xvi.
Ver. 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the
midst of his brethren : and the Spirit of the Lord came upon
David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to
Ramah.
Ver. 14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil
,, 15. spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servant said unto
him, Behold now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let
,, 16. our Lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to
seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp : and it shall
come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that
1 For other objections see Dr Davidson's Hermeneutics, pp 542, 543.
D
50 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
CHAP. xvi.
Ver. 17. he shall play with his hand, and them shalt be well. And Saul
said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well,
„ 18. and bring him to me. Then answered one of the servants and
said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that
is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of
war, and prudent in nfatters, and a comely person, and the Lord
,, 19. is with him. Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and
„ 20. said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. And
Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a
„ 21. kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. And David
came to Saul, and stood before him ; and he loved him greatly ;
,, 22. and he became his armour-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, say-
ing, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me ; for he hath found
,, 23. favour in my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit
from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp and played
with his hand : so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil
spirit departed from him.
Earlier incident in David's history :
CHAP. xvn.
Ver. 1. Now the Philistines had gathered1 together their armies to battle,
and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah,
and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. And
,, 2. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by
the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philis-
„ 3. tines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and
Israel stood on a mountain on the other side : and there was a valley
,, 4. between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of
the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits
and a span
,, 10. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day ; give
„ 11. me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel
heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly
afraid.
1 So ought the verb ^a.^!* (vaiyaas'phoo), we conceive, to be translated, as is fre-
quently the case with the Future in Hebrew, with 1 conversive. See Exod. xxxii. 29,
xxxiii. 5, &c.
The connexion of the whole of this episode with the preceding context seems evi-
dently to be this. The introduction of David into Saul's court, which has just been
narrated in the end of chap, xvi., was not, the historian informs us, the first time that
Saul and David had met. It was preceded by an interesting interview many years pre-
vious, which led indeed to no continued intercourse or intimacy, yet was not without its
effect in preparing David for his future destiny, as it occasioned his being detained in the
army, and gradually trained up till he had acquired the character of which we find him
in possession (ch. xvi. 18) on his subsequent introduction at a later period of life to
Saul.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 51
ClJAP. XVII.
Ver. 12. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem- Judah,
whose name was Jesse ; and he had eight sons : and the man went
„ 13. among men for an old man in the days of Saul. And the three
eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle ; and the
names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the first-
born, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And
,, 14. David was the youngest : and the three eldest followed Saul. But
,, 15. David v:ent and returned from Saul1 to feed his father's sheep at
,, 16. Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near morning and evening,
and presented himself forty days.
Ver. 17. And Jesse said unto Dacid his son, Take now for thy brethren an
ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the
,, 18. camp to thy brethren; and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain
of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their
„ 20. pledge And David rose up early in the morn-
ing, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse
had commanded him
„ 81. And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed
„ 32. them before Saul: and he sent for him. And Dacid said to Saul,
Let no man's heart fail because of him ; thy servant will go and
,, 33. fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not
able to go against this Philistine to fight with him : for thou art but
,, 34. a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said
unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a
lion, ifc
„ 42. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained
him : for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair counten-
ance
" 48. And it came to pass when the Philistine arose, and came and drew
nigh to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army
to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, fyc.
„ 54. And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jeru-
salem ;a but he put his armour in his tent
1 This, and the preceding verse, as Horsley remarks, are to be taken in connexion.
" The three eldest followed Saul," that is, remained constantly with the army. " But
David went and returned from Saul," that is, from the army, going only occasionally
when his father commanded him to inquire after the welfare of his brethren. See ver.
17 and 18.
2 This is evidently a proleptical statement, as is also the one immediately succeeding,
" he put his armour in his tent.1' As David was not attached to the army, this must
either refer to the tent which Was now assigned him, as Saul retained him in the army
(see ch. xviii. 2) : or perhaps, as Otto Thenius thinks (Exegetisches Handbuch zum
alten Testament), he took the armour with him home, when he returned to his father's
house. One's TENT, at this period of the Hebrew history, was the usual expression for
his house or home. Compare 1 Sam. xiii. 2, 2 Sam. xix. 8, xx. 1. " Every man to
his tent, O Israel," xx. 22, 1 Kings xii. 16, &c.
52 SCKIPTURE PAKALLELISM.
CHAP. xvii.
Ver. 55. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he
said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this
youth ? And Aimer said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.
„ 56. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. And
„ 57. as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took
him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine
„ 58. in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou
young man 2 And David answered, I am the son of thy servant
CH. xvni. Jesse the BethleJiemite. And it came to pass, when he had made
an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit
with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
„ 2. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home
to his father's housed Then Jonathan and David made a cove-
„ 4. nant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan
stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to
David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and
to his girdle.
Kesumption of the narrative broken off at the end of chapter
xvi :
Ver. 5. Now David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and be-
haved himself wisely ; and Saul set him over the men of war,
and he -was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in
the sight of Saul's servants.
Ver. 6. And it came to pass, as they were coming in, on David's re-
turning from the slaughter of the Philistine [army, or, as in the
margin, of the " Philistines "}, that the women came out of all
the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet king Saul, with
„ 7. tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the
women answered one another as they played and said,
Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.
,, 8. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him ; and he
said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me
they have ascribed but thousands ; and what can he have more
1 As he had been in the habit of doing hitherto, going and returning, as we have
already seen (xvii. 15), to keep up intelligence between his father and brethren. The
true import of the expression, " Saul took him, and would let him go no more home to
his father's house, appears from chap. xiv. 52. " And there was sore war against the
Philistines all the days of Saul ; and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man,
he took him unto him." Concluding from the adventure of the day that the young man
was likely to form a good soldier, Saul kept him to serve in the army, and made him,
like his brothers (xvii. 14), " follow him'' : but there is nothing said of his being, as at
a later period, about Saul's person. When the campaign was over, he would return to
his father's house, till his services were again required.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 53
CHAP. XVI.
Ver. 9. but the kingdom ? And Saul eyed David from that day and
forward.
Ver. 10. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from
God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the
house ; and David played with his hand as at other times ; and
„ 11. there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin ;
for he said. I will smite David even to the wall with it. And
David avoided out of his presence twice.
Let us first observe the reason that led to the present arrange-
ment of the narrative, and to the anticipation, in the end of
chap xvi., of part of David's history. If we read over chap. xvi.
carefully, we shall see that the evident object of the historian is
to contrast the king who ruled after his own will and for his own
purposes, with " the man after God's own heart," whom He chose
while yet quite a youth to supply the place of Saul, that he might
rule not for himself but for God ; and to enforce on his readers
the great principle of God's moral government, illustrated by the
opposite destinies of the two, that " whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance ; but whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." (Matt,
xiii. 12.) Accordingly, immediately after narrating the selec-
tion and anointing of David by Samuel, xvi. 1-12, consequent on
the rejection of Saul, the sacred historian remarks, " And the
Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward,"
(ver. 13). This naturally leads him, without regarding any of
the intermediate events (which are afterwards introduced episo-
dically in chap, xvii-xviii. 4), to remark the opposite dealings of
God's providence with Saul. " But the Spirit of the Lord
departed from Saul., and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled
him" — and to pass on by anticipation to the time when events
were now approaching a crisis by the two principal personages of
the succeeding narrative being brought into close relation with
each other. Saul's fortunes had now manifestly begun to wane,
while David's were on the increase. The hand of the Lord had
fallen heavily on Saul, To alleviate his malady, his servants
sought him out a man who could play skilfully, and David is
recommended, not only as one whose fame as a practised musician
was high, but who was by this time become distinguished for his
prowess in war and his prudence in counsel. He is brought into
54 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
the presence of Saul ; and we need not wonder, that after the
lapse of many years, Saul, who perhaps had never seen David
again after his conflict with Goliath, and who, amidst the multi-
plicity of his wars and cares, and those anxious self-tormenting
thoughts which now so often troubled him, had probably forgot-
ten all the circumstances, should not recognize the ruddy strip-
ling whom he had before seen in the manly form of the son of
Jesse. He pleases the king ; is introduced as a resident member
into his court, " for Saul had sent to Jesse, saying, Let David,
I pray thee, stand before me : for he hath found favour in my
sight ;" and he is promoted to the high and responsible office of
armour-bearer.
Let us now read on, in connexion with the end of chap, xvi.,
the 5th verse of chap, xviii. : " And David went out whitherso-
ever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely ; and Saul set
him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all
the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants." Now that
David had risen to so eminent a station, and was beginning to
rival the martial fame and popularity of the king himself with
all ranks of the nation, we see how natural was the jealousy
excited in the mind of the suspicious monarch by the superior
honour ascribed to David above himself, as they were returning
on one occasion from battle, by the women who came out of all
the cities of Israel singing,
Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.
That this occurrence is not to be referred to the time of David's
first appearance and victory over Goliath, but to a long subse-
quent period when David was now resident in Saul's court, for
the purpose of alleviating his malady with his harp, seems placed
beyond question by the words immediately succeeding : " And it
came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came
upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house : and
David played with his hand, as at other times : and there was a
javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin," &c.
The ascription of such praise too (" David hath slain his ten
thousands") to a mere stripling, till that day unknown, for having
slain with a sling and a stone the single champion of Gath,
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 55
would have been so extravagant and exaggerated, that it could
scarce have called forth jealousy, but rather a smile on the part
of Saul. Besides, had Saul's envy been thus early excited against
David on his very first appearance, and continued to pursue him
(for we are told that " Saul eyed David from that day and for-
tvard"), David's career would have been checked at the very com-
mencement, and Saul would certainly have given him no farther
opportunities of becoming distinguished as a warrior, far less
would have made him " his armour-bearer, set him over his men
of war," and changed his hatred of him into love — for " he loved
him," we are expressly told, " greatly." Only when David was come
to mature age, and had acquired such influence as to render him a
dangerous rival, even to the monarch, by his known valour, and
prudence, and acceptance " in the sight of all the people and of
Saul's servants," was such a manifestation of public feeling calcu-
lated to excite so inveterate rancour in the breast of Saul ;
" They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they
have ascribed but thousands ; and what can he have more but
the kingdom ? And Saul eyed David from that day and for-
ward.''
" The slaughter of the Philistine," therefore (as our translators
seem to have seen by their marginal rendering "of the Philis-
tines)," in ch. xviii. 6, has nothing to do with the slaying of
Goliath ; but refers to some one of those numerous engagements
with the common enemy, "the Philistine," ("for there was sore
war against the Philistines all the days of Saul ;" xiv. 52) that
took place when David was now captain, after Saul had " set
him over the men of war" (xviii. 5). " The Philistine" is here
used, as Gentile nouns frequently are, to denote the whole
people, as in Exod. xxxiii. 2. " And I will drive out the
Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite," &c.
Compare Gen. xii. 7, xiii. 7, &C.1
1 Should it be objected that throughout the rest of this history ^T^rr (p'lishtim),
the Philistines, in the plural, is always used when the whole people are intended, though
averse in general to have recourse to conjectural criticism, yet we see a very natural
explanation in the present instance how the mistake might have been committed of
writing the singular, while the plural was the true reading. The transcriber having but
a lew verses before written, " And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,"
(ih. xvii. 57) and finding almost the very same words occurring again so soon after-
waids, would be very apt to assimilate them to the former: or if he attended as little as has
56 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
SECTION VIII.
For tracing the connexion and dependencies of the sacred text,
it is important also to keep in view a peculiarity of construction
which has been well illustrated by Bishop Jebb. " It sometimes
happens," he remarks, in the Parallelisms of the New Testament,
" that a precept is delivered, an assertion made, or a principle laid
down, co-ordinate reasons for which are independently assigned ;
without any repetition of the common antecedent, and without
any other indication of continued reference to the original propo-
sition, than the repeated insertion of some causative particle ; a
FOR (rAP), for instance, or a BECAUSE ('OTI).
Of this peculiarity of construction, he brings several examples
from the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
And shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake :
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad :
FOR great is your reward in heaven ;
FOR so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
MATTHEW v. 11, 12.
Here two co-ordinate reasons are assigned, why our Lord's perse-
cuted disciples should rejoice : 1. they shall obtain a great reward
in heaven ; 2. they are assimilated to the prophets. The re-
ference to a common antecedent is, in this place, too clear to be
overlooked : it could never be supposed, that the resemblance in
point of suffering between the disciples and the prophets was
assigned as the cause why the former should obtain a great re-
ward." '
Be not, therefore, anxious, saying,
What shall we eat ? or what shall we drink ?
Or wherewithal shall we be clothed ?
FOR after all these things do the Gentiles seek :
FOR your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things.
since been so generally done to the real connexion of the narrative, and hastily concluded
that they referred to the immediately preceding incident, he might think himself justi-
fied in altering the text as being an error of previous transcribers.
1 Jebb's Sacred Lit., pp. 375, 376.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 57
Here the precept against worldly solicitude is supported by two
reasons : 1. this solicitude is heathenish ; 2. it is needless.
Enter ye in at the strait gate :
FOR wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction ;
And many there be that go in thereat :
FOR strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life ;
And few there be that find it.
MATTHEW vii. 13, 14.
The difficulties found by commentators in this passage are at
at once " removed by resorting to the principle of a double refer-
ence to a common antecedent. Two co-ordinate reasons are
assigned, why we should enter in through the strait gate ; 1. a
negative reason ; the wide gate is the way, not to life, but to
destruction : 2. a positive reason ; the strait gate is the way to
life. The passage, accordingly, may be thus reduced to a six-
lined stanza :
Enter ye in at the strait gate ;
For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction j
And many there be which go in thereat ;
Enter ye in at the strait gate ;
For strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life ;
And few there be that find it.
To each reason a powerful corroboration is annexed. The wide
gate is frequented by multitudes ; we should be heedful, there-
fore, lest we be drawn into the vortex : the strait gate not only is
not frequented by multitudes, it is found only by a few ; since,
therefore, it is freely and plainly disclosed to us, we ought thank-
fully to use our privilege, and enter in." x
" Who hath not daily necessity, like the high-priests,
First, for his own sins to offer sacrifice,
Then, for the sins of the people :
FOR this {latter] he did once for all, when he offered up himself :
FOR the law constituted men who have infirmity, high-priests ;
But the word of that oath, which is beyond the law, [constituted] the
Son, perfected for evermore.
HEBREWS, vii. 27, 28.
The division of the proposition in this passage is clear and expli-
* Jebb's SacivdLit, pp. 381, 383.
58 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
cit : 1. Our great High-priest is under no necessity of offering
daily sacrifice for his own sins ; 2. He is under no necessity of
offering daily sacrifice for the sins of the people : the two-fold
proof, of this two-fold assertion, is divided also with much dis-
tinctness into two clauses ; each commencing with the causa-
tive particle TAP, FOR : the proofs, however, are arranged in the
inverted order, so as to form an epanodos : the second assertion
is first proved ;
He needs not offer daily for the sins of the people ;
FOR this he did, once for all, when he offered up himself:
The first assertion is then proved ;
He needs not offer daily for his own sins :
FOR he is not, like the legal high-priests, a man with sinful infirmity ;
But, in virtue of the covenant, is the sinless Son perfected for evermore.
The non-necessity of offering for his own sins, is first asserted,
and last proved, in order to give prominence to the grand dis-
tinction between him and the legal high-priests : he DID, once for
all, offer sacrifice for the sins of the people : he NEVER did, NEVER
could, and NEVER will, offer sacrifice for his own sins ; because
he is, and was, and shall be, everlastingly PERFECT, and FREE
FROM SIN." 1
Another most important passage, in respect to the general
arrangement of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. v. 17-20) has
also been happily explained on this principle by Bishop Jebb —
but I shall reserve his explanation till we come to its consideration
in our examination of the exquisite order which pervades the
whole of the Sermon on the Mount.
SECTION IX.
The examples that have been adduced may serve to indicate so
far the advancement made by Bishop Jebb in the study of paral-
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter, pp. 385, 386.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 59
lelism : but to all who wish to prosecute this interesting investi-
gation for themselves we would beg strongly to recommend the
study of the whole of the examples and illustrations which he has
given in his " Sacred Literature."
If, however, the Bishop's views are correct, it seems scarcely
possible to stop short without extending them much farther than
to the arrangement of a single paragraph. A people trained, as
the Hebrews thus were, to trace an orderly connexion between
the different lines and members of a paragraph, must have soon
come to feel the want of a similar correspondence and harmony
as necessary to unite together the separate paragraphs of an en-
tire composition, so as to form one connected and consistent whole.
To illustrate what we mean, let us take one of the Bishop's own
examples — that perhaps in which he himself has made the nearest
approach to the view now advocated.1 Acts iv. 24-30.
1 O Lord, thou art the God,
Who didst make heaven and earth ;
And the sea and all things that are in them :
"Who by the mouth of thy servant David didst say :
2. " Why did the heathen rage,
" And the peoples imagine vain things,
" The kings of the earth stand up,
" And the rulers combine together,
" Against the Lord, and against his anointed ?"
3. For of a truth there have combined,
Against thine holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
Both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
With the heathen, and the peoples of Israel,
To do -whatsoever things thy hand,
And thy counsel predetermined to be done.
And now, Lord, look down upon their threatenings,
4. And give unto thy servants,
With all boldness to speak thy word : •
While thou art stretching forth thine hand for healing,
And while signs and wonders are performed,
Through the name of thine holy child Jesus.
1 See Jebb's Sacred Liter, p. 132.
60 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
" This noble supplicatory hymn," he observes, " poured forth at
once by the whole Christian people, under the immediate influ-
ence of the Holy Spirit, is worthy of that inspiration from whence
it flowed. No one part of it can be deemed inferior to another,1
the same sacred vein of poetry animates the whole : and yet,
amidst all this poetic fervour, we may discern much technical
nicety of construction.
" The entire of the third stanza is an exact and luminous com-
mentary on the prophetical quotation which forms the second
stanza. Commencing with the illative particle ya>° (For) it leads
us to understand a short previous sentence ; which, according to
an elegant usage in the Greek language, is not verbally expressed,
somewhat to the following effect : ' This prophecy is now fulfil-
led ; FOR, of a truth,' &c. We are thus prepared to expect in
what follows, a full equivalent for every part of the preceding
prophecy ; nor is our expectation disappointed ; no topic of the
citation is omitted.
" The combination is first re-asserted as fulfilled :
For, of a truth, there have combined :
" The rebellious nation [nature ?] of that combination is then
declared, together with the nature and office of that kingly po-
tentate, against whom it was formed :
Against thine holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed.
" In the next couplet, the heathen, the peoples, the kings of
the earth, and the rulers, that is all the rebellious personages
of the second psalm, are brought forward as fulfilling what-
soever it was pre-appointed they should do ; but, in a diversified
order :
Both Herod, and Pontius Pilate ;
With the heathen, and the peoples of Israel :
" This is an epanodos : ' Herod, with the peoples of Israel ;
1 This passage is adduced by the Bishop as an instance of the mode in which, in the
Ts'ew Testament, " passages quoted from the poetical parts of the Hebrew Scriptures
are connected and blended with original matter, so that the compound forms one
homogeneous whole : the sententious parallelism equally pervading all the component
members, whether original or derived."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 61
Pontius Pilate, with the heathen ;' Herod, the Jewish ' ruler' or
tetrarch, is mentioned, first, and the peoples of Israel are men-
tioned last, to mark the greater forwardness, and more grievous
criminality of the Jews : he ' came unto his own, and his own
received him not :' Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, repre-
sentative of ' the kings of the earth,' with the heathen under his
control, as subordinate actors, are placed in the centre.
" The equivalent terms, in the prophecy, and in the declara-
tion of its fulfilment, may be thus exhibited :
PSALM II. ACTS IV.
The rulers. Herod!
The kings of the earth. Pontius Pilate.
The heathen. The heathen.
The peoples. The peoples of Israel.
1 The Lord and his anointed. ] Thine holy child Jesus whom thou
hast anointed."9
•
" The last two lines of the third stanza form the connecting
link between that stanza and the fourth :
1 Instead of the last pair of equivalent terms, as here stated, Bishop Jebb has
given
The Lord (Jehovah). Thine holy child Jesus.
The Lord's anointed. Whom thou hast anointed.
He bespeaks the particular attention of his readers to these, and endeavours to
deduce from them an argument for the divinity of our Lord : and this notwithstanding
that lie is aware of the objection that thus the anointer would be represented as the
same with the anointed, and the Lord Jehovah with his own Jio/y child Jesus ; that is,
that the Father would be confounded with the Son ! This startling proposition he en-
deavours to found on the supposed necessity of maintaining a mathematical exactness
of relative proportion between the respective parallel terms of the lines : and as all the
other terms of the Psalm find their corresponding equivalents in the interpretative
stanza, he argues that least of all could we suppose the most important, the incommu-
nicable name of Jehovah or the Lord, to have been left without equivalent, especially
as " this name is the keystone at once of the argument and the prayer." Strange that
it should not have occurred to so acute a critic, that in the prayer of the Christian dis-
ciples the highest prominence is given to the LORD (the Father) by his being made the
direct object of their address, and that the LORD of Psalm ii. finds its complete equiva-
lent in the thine and thou of the comment. Besides the LORD was opposed when he
" whom He had anointed" was opposed.
1 need scarce remark that the example which the Bishop adduces in justification
from Psalm xlv. (v. 6 and 7) gives no countenance whatever to such a confusion of
ideas as making God's holy child Jesus to anoint the Messiah. The divinity of the
Saviour stands in need of no such strained arguments for its support.
2 Jebb's Sacred Lit. pp. 132-135.
62 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
To do whatsoever things thy hand,
And thy counsel predetermined to be done ;
( thy hand/ that is, thine overruling power ; ' thy counsel/ that
is, thy predisposing wisdom. These two topics give the subject
of the next stanza ; in which, by an epanodos, they are taken up
in the inverted order. First, an appeal is made to the wisdom or
' counsel' of God :
And now, Lord, look down upon their threatenings,
And give unto thy servants,
With all boldness to speak thy word :
that is, ' And, as thy wise counsel predetermined, that, through
the confederacy of Jews and Gentiles, of kings and rulers, Christ
should surfer ; so, let the same wise counsel be now made conspi-
cuous, in the undaunted preaching of Christ crucified/
*c Next, the { hand/ or power of God, is brought forward :
While thou art stretching forth thy hand for healing ;
And while signs and wonders are performed,
Through the name of thy holy child Jesus :
that is, ' What is now taking place, is to us thy servants an ar-
gument of confidence : thy hand was lately raised, to give that
power to Christ's enemies, which, without thy permission, they
could not have attained: the same hand is now miraciilously
raised to heal diseases, and to work wonders, through the name
of Jesus : we accept the blessed indication ; arid, trusting in thy
mighty power, we will go forth, to proclaim the glories of that
name, which we now behold thus signally efficacious.' " 1
Thus far Bishop Jebb has traced most successfully the train of
ideas in this supplicatory hymn : and while in almost every other
instance which he has adduced, we find only single lines corre-
sponding to single lines, he has in this instance observed that a
whole triplet, or combination of three lines, may l>e parallel to a
single line : for the two triplets that form the concluding stanza
correspond respectively to the two last lines of the third stanza.
Still, we feel the want of some associating link to combine more
closely together all the parts of this hyrnn, and especially to con-
1 Jebbs Sacred Lit. pp. 140, 141.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 63
nect with the subsequent topics the opening address of the
prayer,
O Lord, thou art the God,
Who didst make heaven and earth,
And the sea, and all things that are in them :
which, so far as the Bishop's exposition goes, seems to stand dis-
jointed from the rest, and has been passed over by him, as if a
mere general form of address to God for which almost any other
might with equal propriety have been substituted; whereas it
constitutes a most essential part of the whole. It is a quotation
from Psalm cxlvi. 6 ; and we have but to turn to the Psalm to
see how apposite is its application to the circumstances in which
the Apostles were placed, threatened by the rulers of the Jews ;
and commanded to be silent, while God on the contrary required
of them to preach boldly in the name of Jesus. The question for
their consideration was, whether they were to " obey God or man."
Acts iv. 19. Under such circumstances, what quotation could be
more appropriate, or what passage of Scripture could be adduced
better calculated for allaying their fears and strengthening their
faith, than that wherein the Spirit of God commands them,
3. Put not your trust in princes,
Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
5. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God :
6. Which made heaven, and earth,
The sea, and all that therein is :
who therefore had all power in heaven and in earth to defend
those that hearkened unto Him, and not unto " man, in whom
there is no help " !
To Jews, to whom, from having their Scriptures mostly by
heart, the quotation of a few words was sufficient to recal instantly
the whole context, the exceeding appositeness of almost every part
of the Psalm to their present circumstances would be obvious.
6. The LORD keepeth truth for ever :
7. He executeth judgment for the oppressed.
The LORD looseth the prisoners:
64 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
8. The LORD raiseth them that are bowed down :
The LORD loveth the righteous :
9. But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
10. The LORD shall reign for ever,
Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.
In short, the appeal throughout the whole Psalm is to thepotuer
of God, as being all sufficient to protect his servants from the
utmost might of their enemies. Thus of the two attributes of
God, to which as we have seen from Bishop Jebb's analysis appeal
is made throughout the hymn, the prominence is given to the one
which was fitted, under the circumstances, to impart the highest
consolation — the power of God — by assigning to it the first and
last place.
The true division of the hymn we conceive to be that which is
far the most usual in Scripture, into three parts or stanzas, in
each of which it will be observed, God's power and wisdom are
brought forward.
I. (Past.)
( O LORD, thou art " the God,
Power. •< Who didst make heaven and earth ;
( And the sea and all things that are in them ; "
Wisdom.
Who, by the mouth of thy servant David, didst say :
"Why did the heathen rage,
" And the peoples imagine vain things,
" The kings of the earth stand up,
" And the rulers combine together,
" Against the LORD, and against his Anointed?"
II. (Present.)
For of a truth, there have combined,
Against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
Both Herod, and Pontius Pilate,
With the heathen, and the peoples of Israel,
Power. •< To do whatsoever things thy hand,
Wisdom. -< And thy counsel predetermined to be done.
SCHIPTUHE PARALLELISM. 65
IJI. (Future.)
( And now, Loan, look down upon their threatenings,
Wisdom. •< And give unto thy servants,
( With all boldness to speak thy word ;
( While thou art stretching forth thine hand for healing,
Power. -< And while signs and wonders are performed,
(^ Through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.
The argument of the whole prayer will thus be found to be :
I.
1st. Thy poiver, 0 God, is almighty ; 2d. Thy wisdom foresees
and predisposes all things : the first, as avouched to us in Psalin
cxlvi. ; the second, as exhibited in Psalm ii. In Psalm cxlvi.,
thou hast enjoined us, in the hour of trial and persecution from
ungodly men, to look not to man, but to the Lord. In Psalm
ii, thou hast given us a most remarkable proof of thy foreknow-
ledge and predisposing wisdom in predicting so clearly before-
hand the opposition that would be made by a combination of Jews
and Gentiles against thine own Son, when he should appear on
earth, whom, to accomplish thy wondrous purposes of mercy to our
race, " it behoved to suffer these things :" assuring us neverthe-
less that their " imaginations against him would be vain : " warn-
ing therefore the mightiest to submit themselves to thy Son, and
pronouncing those " blessed who put their trust in him."
II.
These things are now beginning to be realized in our expe-
rience. As therefore thy power and thy wisdom have been exhi-
bited in our enemies, in making them the instruments to work
out what we now see clearly to have been the doing of the Lord,
and "known unto God from the beginning:" for "those things
which God before had shoived by the mouth of all his prophets,
that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled ;v Acts iii. 18.1
1 Compare Acts ii. 23. " Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge, of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
E
66 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
III.
So let now thy wisdom and thy power be exhibited in us thy
servants. Let thy wisdom be exhibited in thy word preached
boldly and in all fulness by us : let thy power-be exhibited in our
continuing to be enabled to perform miraculous cures and to work
wonders through the name of thy blessed Son and in attestation
of his Gospel.
The prayer indeed may be said to form a regular syllogism or
logical argument, of which Stanza I. is the major proposition,
Stanza II. the minor, and Stanza III. the conclusion.
In the three stanzas, as frequently in the threefold division in
Scripture, we find a reference to the Past, the Present, and the
Future. The first stanza is retrospective, looking back to the
declarations of God's perfections " in past times by the prophets :"
the central stanza describes the striking fulfilment and illustra-
tion of these exhibited in the present circumstances of the church :
while the last stanza is prospective, supplicating the continuance
of the manifestation of God's wisdom and power in his servants
for the future.
Before leaving this passage finally, I would beg to draw parti-
cular attention to the great importance of parallelism in enabling
the student to discriminate between words that at first sight
appear to be synonymous. In the first two verses of Psalm ii :
Why have the heathen tumultuously assembled,
And the people meditate a vain thing ?
[Why] do the kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers have sat together consulting,
Against Jehovah, and against his Anointed ?
commentators in general have seen in the first four lines but a
mere tautological repetition of synonymous terms, " the people"
being considered equivalent to " the heathen," and " the rulers"
to " the kings of the earth." But when by attending to the paral-
lelism of the lines we observe that " the heathen" and " the kings
of the earth" are connected, and " the people" with " the rulers,"
we are led, in the very opening of the Psalm, to see that we have
a prediction of a combination of Gentiles, and Jews, with their
SCKlPTUltE PARALLELISM. 67
respective kings, and rulers* against the Lord and his Anointed,
such as found no fulfilment in any event in David's life, and con-
sequently that a greater than David is here.
That such is the true interpretation is placed beyond doubt by
the inspired commentary in Acts iv. 27 :
For of a truth there have combined,
Against thine holy servant Jesus whom thou hast anointed,
Both Herod —
and Pontius Pilate.,
with the heathen —
and the people of Israel 5
where, as we have seen (p. 61) we have four terms corresponding
exactly to those in the Psalm, though arranged in a different
order, " Herod (the head and representative of the Jewish rulers)
with the people of Israel being placed first and last, to mark the
greater forwardness and more grievous criminality of the Jews ;
while Pontius Pilate, the Koman governor (representative of the
kings of the earth) with the heathen, as subordinate actors, are
placed in the centre."
The next example which we shall give is also taken from
Jebb's Sacred Literature.2 The first four stanzas of the follow-
ing passage (John v. 19-30) the Bishop has adduced (p. 171) as
examples of quatrains or four-lined stanzas, without seemingly
the slightest suspicion that these themselves form but parts of a
1 These four lines, though alternately parallel as Bishop Jebb has stated, yet, viewed
in another light, may, as is frequently the case, be regarded as directly parallel, " the
heathen" corresponding with " the people" in the first two lines, while " the kings of
the earth" correspond with " the rulers" in the last two. Still in this view, according
to the principles of the yradational parallelism, there must be a difference, and advance
in meaning, in the second line of each couplet above the first, and greater cause for
astonishment and reprehension in dispeople taking part in such an unhallowed con-
spiracy than the Jieathen, and in the rulers than the kings of the earth. In either view,
therefore, we are conducted to the same conclusion.
2 This example, which occupies the remainder of section IX., has already appeared
in Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for Oct. 1851. Though introduced here for
the reason just specified, we would recommend to less critical readers to reserve its
perusal till they have studied the rest of the volume, as it requires closer attention
and more sustained thought to follow the reasoning in all the details into which we
have entered, than perhaps any of the examples which succeed. Indeed, judging from
the experience of some friends who have read the work in manuscript, we would ad-
vise the general reader to pass on at once to the Decalogue (Section XIII.) and the
Lord's Sermon on the Mount, and then to return back and to conclude with the inter-
vening sections.
G8 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
long introverted parallelism, the component parts of which, how-
ever, are stanzas, not lines.
But we have a farther object in the selection of this passage :
not only as it is extremely interesting and important in itself
from the doctrinal views which it contains, but as it affords an
opportunity of refuting an objection which has been brought
against the study of parallelism, that it seems " incapable of
eliciting any new meaning in Scripture, not known before."
The whole of the passage, John v. 19-30 (or indeed to the end
of the chapter) is but an extension and farther vindication of the
brief reply which our Saviour had given in John v. 17 to the
objection of his adversaries against his healing on the Sabbath
day, " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The meaning
which we are led to assign to these words from attention to the
principal point of Christ's argument, as indicated by the parallel-
istic arrangement in John v. 19-30, presents, if we mistake not,
our Lord's reply to the Jews in an altogether new, beautiful, and
consistent point of view.
JOHN v. 19-30.
Verse
19. ( The Son can do nothing of himself,
' "A TC t. But what he seeth the Father do :
< For what things soever he doeth,
( These also doeth the Son likewise.
20.
21.
22.
23.
B
( For the Father loveth the Son,
(. And sheweth him all things that himself doeth ;
, ( And he will shew him greater works than these,
(. That ye may marvel.
FOR as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ;
Even so the Son quickeneth whom he will :
FOR the Father judgeth no man,
But hath committed all judgment unto the Son :
T ( That all men should honour the Son,
(. Even as they honour the Father :
( He that honoureth not the Son,
( Honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Ven«
21.
25.
27.
28.
29.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
f f Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
j Hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
I But is passed from death unto life.
I Verily, verily, I say unto you,
, J The hour is coming, and now is,
1 When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
I And they that hear shall live.
FOR as the Father hath life in himself,
So hath he given to the Son to have life in himself:
AND hath given him authority to execute judgment also,
Because he is the Son of man.
f Marvel not at this :
, J For the hour is coming,
] In the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
I And shall come forth :
They that have done good,
Unto the resurrection of life :
And they that have done evil,
Unto the resurrection of damnation.
30. Negative I can of mine own self do nothing :
p«,uiTe As I hear, I judge :
A And my judgment is just :
Because I seek not mine own will,
But the will of the Father which hath sent me.
The occasion which gave rise to the weighty discourse of our
Saviour, of which this forms a part, was his having healed an
impotent man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath-day ; on
which the rulers of the Jews accused him of breaking the Sab-
bath. Christ's reply to this accusation, according to the view
suggested by the parallelistic arrangement which follows, is most
conclusive and unanswerable. " My Father [it is that] worketh
hitherto [in all that I do], and I work." The work of healing
which you censure is not mine only, but my Father's. If there-
fore you find fault with me, you find fault with my Father.
The interpretation usually put upon these words by all com-
mentators, so far as we are aware, is, that " as the Father had not
ceased to work in carrying on the great operations of nature and
providence even on the Sabbath-day, so the Son was authorized to
70 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
perform works of mercy and goodness on the same day, without
being justly chargeable with any breach of the Sabbath." The
other interpretation, however, needs, we think, but to be men-
tioned to commend itself at once as the true one ; and, did any
doubt remain, it would be dispelled by observing its exact coinci-
dence with the idea to which such prominence is given in the
subsequent Introverted Parallelism, or Epanodos (v. 19-30), by
placing it first and last. The leading proposition, with which the
Epanodos opens, is (v. 19), " The Son can do nothing of himself,
but what he seeth the Father do ;" which is equivalent to " My
Father worketh hitherto [in all my works], and [in concert with
him] I work :" and the conclusion from the whole reasoning in
the close of the Epanodos (v. 30) runs in the same terms : " I
can of mine own self do nothing," that is, inconsistent with my
Father's will. My work of healing therefore on the Sabbath-day,
so far from being a violation of God's holy Sabbath, is, on the
contrary, a work of my Father's, and an attestation to my divine
mission.
Let us now trace the course of thought as pointed out to us by
the parallelistic arrangement.
Our Lord, instead of softening the enmity of the Jews by his
first reply, had given them still deeper offence by the terms which
he employed. By calling God " my Father," instead of " our
Father," he had evidently implied that God was, in a peculiar
sense* his Father, thus, as they accused him, " making himself
equal with God." So far from denying the justice of this infer-
ence, he re-asserts it in the most emphatic manner, affirming,
with the strongest asseverations,9 that there was the most entire
union, both of purpose and of agency, between the Father and
himself. This he does, first negatively (v. 19, " The Son can do
nothing of himself, but," &c.) by denying the possibility of his
performing any self-willed act, which was not at the same time
the Father's act ; and secondly, positively (" For what things
soever he doeth, these," &c.) by asserting that every power which
the Father possessed the Son possessed. The negative assertion
is intended to remove the objections of the Jews, as if any act of
1 Uartoa 75 /Of t^-fyt rov Situ. John V. 18.
2 '• Verily, verily, I say unto you."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 71
Christ's, such as healing the lame man on the Sabbath, could be
inconsistent with the mind of the Father, and a breach of his
commandment: while the positive view is intended to elevate
their minds, if possible, to an apprehension of the majesty of his
person and office, and the honour and obedience due to him as
the alone Mediator and Saviour.
These two topics accordingly are taken up, but in inverse
order, and enlarged upon in the two central members of the Intro-
verted Parallellism, B and B ; the first of which, B, directs the
attention chiefly to the person of Christ ; the second, B, more to
the Jews themselves,1 to warn them of the awful responsibility
under which they were now laid by his appearance in the midst
of them, and the momentous consequences which would result to
themselves from their acceptance or rejection of him.
B. As regards me.
I have said (A, 2d distich), " What things soever the Father
doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Now (v. 20) this
arises from the perfect unity between me and my Father, and his
love to me, which leads him to communicate to me, even in my
mediatorial capacity, every power. Not only, therefore, has he
imparted to me the power of performing such miracles as those
you have heretofore witnessed, but he will manifest to me still
greater ; even his own two highest and distinguishing preroga-
tives : the power, 1st, (v. 21,) of imparting life (spiritual as well
as bodily) ; and 2dly, (v. 22,) of judging, or deciding the destinies of
all mankind (both here and hereafter, according as they believe or
1 Compare a similar division in John vL 39, 40 :
Ver. 39. " And this is the Father's will which hath sent me,
[viz. with regard to my conduct,]
" That of all which he hath given me,
" I' should lose nothing,
" But should raise it up again at the last day."
Ver. 40. " And this is the will of him that sent me,
[viz., with regard to your conduct towards me,]
" That every one which seeth the Son, and bellevelh on him [and none
else]
" May have everlasting life ;
" And I will raise him up at the last day."
72 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
not on me). And the object, he concludes (v. 23), for which the
Father had communicated to him all this dignity and authority
was, that the same honour might be paid to him through whom
the Father revealed himself, as to the Father himself. Whoso-
ever, therefore, did not pay him this honour, resisted the will of
the Father, and did not honour Him, however much he pretended
it. This was in answer to the Jews, who pretended to be so
jealous of the honour due to God, as to be indignant at our Sa-
viour in any way trenching upon it, or pretending to claim an
equality of honour and power with God.
This leads him naturally to the second part of his subject, viz.
the duty of the Jews to believe on him, and the momentous con-
sequences which were dependent upon their acceptance or rejec-
tion of his claims.
B. As regards you.
I have ended by saying negatively, " He that honoureth not
the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." I now
say affirmatively, " He that heareth my word/' and so evidences
his belief in him that sent me, can alone be saved.1 On this is
suspended your doom as to the two all-important points which I
have mentioned, life and judgment.
V. 25. Now, I conjure you3 to reflect; is the accepted time.
Hear me, and your souls shall live, though dead in trespasses and
sins : for the time is at hand, on the completion of my work, nay
is already begun, when the spiritually dead (and as a pledge and
emblem thereof, some of the naturally dead) shall hear my voice
and live.
V. 26 and 27. For again I would repeat (see v. 21 and 22) as
1 Compare John iii. 18, " He that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
It will be observed that verses 23 and 24 are so connected as to form a transition
between the two stanzas B and U. In verse 23 Jesus had said, " He that honoureth
not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." This proposition is
again taken up in the beginning of verse 24, with the difference only that it is now-
expressed affirmatively instead of negatively, " He that heareth my word, and (so)
believeth on him that sent me," &c., which is equivalent to, " He that honoureth the
Son, and (thereby) honoureth the Father," &c.
3 " Verily, verify, I say unto you."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 73
the main point on which I would have all your thoughts to
centre i1 — To the Son the Father directs you as the one to whom
are committed by him the sovereign powers of creation and of
judgment — life now, and deliverance from all fear of judgment
already : (see v. 24).
V. 28, 29. Which need excite no astonishment in you, when I
farther assure you that the final resurrection to life and judgment
of all are entrusted to me.
V. 30. I sum up, therefore, this part of my subject as I began :
1st. (negatively). " I can of mine own self do nothing," that
is, without the co-operation of my Father. Therefore the miracle
which I have performed, so far from being, as you unjustly
allege, a breach of God's holy Sabbath, is on the contrary a work
of the Father's as well as of mine, and thus a proof of the truth
of my pretensions.
2dly, (positively.) If you reject it and me, then when I claim
the high prerogative of the Father to judge you for your unbelief,
I do but what the Father has already done. As I before said
(v. 19, 2d distich), " For what tilings soever the Father doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise ;" so now I say with peculiar
application to you, " As I hear [from the Father], I judge" — and
as my work of healing on the Sabbath-day was just, unless you
will impugn the works of the Father himself, so " my judgment"
of you " is just" also : because I pursue no private ends of my
own, but act in entire accordance with the commission intrusted
to me by my Father.
Having thus seen the structure and connexion of the whole
Introverted Parallelism, let us next advert to the arrangement of
its parts, which will be found to be constructed with equal nicety
and care.
B and B are themselves each Introverted Parallelisms.
First let us examine B.
The two distichs of v. 20 correspond to the two distichs of
v. 23 respectively, a to a, and b to 6, while the two central verses,
21 and 22, mutually correspond.2
1 Marked out by these verses being the central lines in each stanza.
2 Observe the two co-ordinate reasons introduced by For in each verse. See pp.
56-58. So also in verses 26 and 27 ; only that here the second For is exchanged for
And.
74 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
In verses 20 and 23 (especially in a and a), we find one of
those profound harmonies, which exist not so much in any paral-
lelism of words as of thoughts. In both distichs a and a, the
subordination of the Son to the Father in one respect, as media-
tor and man, is prominently brought forward. It is the Father
that sheweih him all things (a), that has sent him as his ambas-
sador to men (a). Still in both cases, in what the Father sheivs to
the Son, and in the treatment wherewith men receive him whom
he has sent, our Saviour impresses earnestly upon his hearers that
the Father identifies himself so completely with him that the Son
could truly say, " All thine are mine, ( = a), and mine are thine,"
(= a). Not only in good but in evil, the love and sympathy of
the Father towards the Son are entire. Every good that he him-
self possesses, he imparts to the Son (a) : every dishonour that is
offered to the Son, he counts as done to himself (a).
The other two distichs, b and b, correspond, in both expressing
the end which the Father has in view in the gifts which he im-
parts to the Son ; in order, if possible, to overpower their minds
with believing admiration, and honour of the Son — " that ye
may marvel"1 — " that all men should honour the Son."
In B the correspondences are so obvious as to require little
remark. Verses 24 and 25 are parallel to verses 28 and 29. On
the all-powerful voice of the Son of God depend everlasting life
and judgment: verses 24 and 25, in this world ; verses 28 and
29, in the world to come.
c and c are connected thus. Everlasting life and escape from
judgment depend upon the conduct of individuals :
c) — on their believing, or not believing on the Son of God.
c) — on their consequent works.
In d and d, the last three lines of each quatrain answer almost
verbally to each other :
Line 2. " The hour is coming."
,, 3. " The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God."
,, 4. " And shall be quickened thereby."
1 The words in the original are "vet vpCts 3-auftti%rl<n. This is one of the few out-
standing instances still quoted as a proof of the supposed ecbatic use of "v«, " so that ye
shall marvel.'' That it here retains, however, its usual telic sense, " in order that " is
proved not only by the far nobler signification thus given to our Saviour's words, but
by the parallelism, which requires that the same meaning should be attached to the
word in verse 20 as in the corresponding distich of verse 23, "vet -reivris -rip.uai TOV vlei.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 75
We are thus led to observe that in the first lines of each, the
reiterated earnestness of Jesus' exhortations (" Verily, verily, I
say unto you") corresponds with the " marvelling" unbelief which
he discerned growing in their hearts, on their hearing such lofty
claims preferred by so lowly an individual.1
The two central quatrains of stanzas B and B are extremely
similar, verses 26 and 27 being almost a repetition of verses 21
and 22. Both stanzas, it will be observed, are divided into three
parts ; and here it may be as well to remark, for the benefit of the
student of parallelism, one of the principal relations of the num-
ber Three, or the Ternary division, by far the most common in
Scripture. It forms a perfect whole, consisting of a Beginning,
Middle, and End, or, as the parts are usually denominated in
compositions of any length, the Introduction, the Main Subject,
or Body of the Discourse, and the Conclusion.
The first division will be found to have always something of an
initiatory, introductory, preparatory character ; the middle term
1 In accordance with the principles of the Gradational Parallelism, we may observe
a regular gradation or advance in the meaning in the last stanzas, above the first to
which they correspond, both in B and in B.
In B, the two parts of verse 23 rise above the two corresponding parts of verse 20.
a) Not only does the Father shew the Son all things, and impart to him every power
that he himself possesses — but
a) Even that which is the highest aim that he proposes to himself in all that he
does — his own glory and honour — he desires to communicate in full measure to the
Son.
In b) " That ye may marvel " is heightened in b) into " that all men should honour
the Son," &c., and " marvel" in b) into divine " honour " in 6.)
In the two parts of the central quatrain, a similar advance is perceptible in verse 22
above verse 21. " Raising up the dead and quickening them " is the initiatory act in
the great work of man's redemption ; "judgment" is the final act, which shall fix his
everlasting fate.
In _B, the advance is equally evident from the present partial resurrection and judg-
ment in verses 24 and 25, to the final and universal in verses 28 and 29. In order, if
possible, to awaken the minds of his hearers to belief in him as the Saviour from
spiritual death and judgment in this world, Jesus assures them that he was invested
with what they regarded as the greatest work of divine omnipotence and glory, the
power of raising all men to life at the last day, and judging an assembled world. It
is what logicians term an argument a majori ad minus.
The advance too from faith to works is observable in verse 29 as compared with
verse 24, and the appropriate place and character of each are briefly but distinctly in-
dicated. Faith must begin the believer's life and introduce the great change (c) : but
it will avail nothing unless followed and proved to be genuine by works, since by these
the eternal state of each will be decided at the last day (c}.
76 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
or division marks the medium or means through which the final
issue or conclusion is reached — the connecting link which stands
midway between the beginning and the end, uniting the first
steps with the last, the premises with the conclusion, &c. ; while
the third division marks the end to which the initiatory steps
tend, and in which they terminate. Thus, in the ternary division
of B, the first quatrain, v. 20, indicates the great Source from
whose love all things are communicated to the Son, while the
third, v. 23, as evidently marks the end for which these are com-
municated, viz. that equal honour should be paid to the Son as
to the Father. But verses 21, 22, contain what forms the grand
central point of the whole, the means through which the end
designed is to be attained, viz. that the Son of God is in actual
possession and in sovereign exercise,1 even as mediator, of the
powers of Creator and Judge of all.
His possession of these exclusively divine prerogatives is, in
short, the main point on which our Saviour desires the thoughts
of his hearers to be centred in both departments of his argument ;
in B as the convincing proof of the justice of his claims to equal
powers and honour with the Father himself ; in B as the argu-
ment of all others best calculated to arouse his unbelieving coun-
trymen to the danger of longer resisting him, in whose hands were
the issues of life and of death. In the threefold division of the
latter stanza B, the introductory character of the resurrection and
judgment of the first division, verses 24, 25, as compared with
theymaZ resurrection and judgment in verses 28, 29, has already
been noticed.
Still, closely resembling each other as are the central quatrains
of both B and .5, the variations in each are most significant, and
admirably adapted to the peculiar object of each stanza. In
verses 21 and 22, which are intended to draw the attention
more directly to Christ himself, the points more prominently
insisted upon are such as are calculated to elevate our ideas of
the dignity of his person, and the sovereignty of his attributes.
Even as the Father docth so doeth the Son, " quickening whom
he will" Not the Father, but he, shall be the immediate judge
of all.
1 " The Son quickeneth whom he will."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 77
But in verses 26 and 27, where it is his more immediate de-
sign to direct the attention of his hearers to their duty towards
him, and to lead them from acknowledged premises to the
intended conclusion, he dwells more upon the derivation of his
prerogatives from his Father, that they might be alarmed by the
.thought that if they " heard not his word" they were shewing a
disregard of " him that sent" him. (Compare v. 24). " As the
Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have
life in himself: and hath given him authority to execute judg-
ment," &c. And though in human form, which had been the
reason of their opposing him on this occasion, and accusing him
of blasphemy, " because that he, being man, made himself equal
with God," he on the contrary assures them that the very reason
why the Father had committed those powers to liim as mediator
was, that he had humbled himself to become " the Son of man,"
and to be made in all things like his brethren, since thus alone
could he redeem man's fallen nature, become a merciful and sym-
pathising High Priest, and a confessedly impartial Judge.
Lastly, we remark that there is a deviation from the regular
form of the Epanodos in v. 30. Taken as a whole, indeed, this
verse is parallel to v. 19 ; but the separate propositions in each
do not follow the usual arrangement, 1, 2 : 2, 1, but are placed
1, 2 : 1, 2, or, in the present case, instead of Negative, Positive :
Positive, Negative, the two last are like the first, Negative, Posi-
tive. The reason of this is evident. Had the discourse ended at
v. 39, and our Lord's reply been only apologetical, intended prin-
cipally to repel the objections of the Jews, he would have con-
cluded as he began, with the negative proposition, " I can of
mine own self do nothing" (unauthorized by my Father). Our
Saviour's design, however, was not merely defensive but aggres-
sive, directed to convict the Jews of their great guilt in rejecting
his claims. As he was, therefore, now about to leave the nega-
tive side of the argument (= " I am not guilty"), and in the
remainder of his discourse (31-47) to insist rather on the posi-
tive (=- " But ye are guilty"), he reverses with propriety the usual
order of the propositions, summing up in a single sentence the
defence of himself, " I can of mine own self do nothing," and
placing last, and in order to draw attention more particularly to
them, dwelling, throughout the rest of the verse, on the proofs
78 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
which he is now about to adduce of his right to pass judgment
on their unbelief, and of the justice of his sentence.
Though I fear I may have already exhausted the reader's pa-
tience by the minuteness of my criticisms on this instance of the
Introverted Parallelism, or Epanodos, I cannot refrain from tres-
passing a little longer upon it, and availing myself of the oppor-.
tunity which this passage offers of rebutting the charge against
Parallelism of its inutility in eliciting the true meaning of Scrip-
ture, and of exemplifying the great importance, for the correct
interpretation of the sacred volume, of the Epanodos in concen-
trating the attention upon the leading point of the argument, by
placing it first and last.
We have already seen that the true meaning of our Saviour's
first brief reply to the objection of his adversaries, which had
escaped all the commentators (v. 17, " My Father worketh
hitherto, and I work") is immediately elicited by attention to
the equivalent words with which the Epanodos, in his more ex-
panded answer, begins and ends, verses 19 and 30. In like
manner, the true meaning of the words, with which the second
part of the discourse, in which he goes on to adduce in judg-
ment the testimony for himself and against his opposers, begins,
" If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true," (v. 31,)
will, we think, be found to have been equally misapprehended.
Comparing these words with the preceding, / can of mine own
self* do nothing " i. e. apart from the Father, a new light is im-
mediately thrown upon the succeeding proposition, " If P bear
witness of myself" that is apart from my Father, " my witness is
not true." Neither in my works, nor in my words, Christ evi-
dently means to say, do I stand alone.3 " I can of mine own self
do nothing," without the Father's doing it at the same time. So
" if T bear witness of myself" without the Father's bearing witness
of me at the same time, believe me not : * " my witness is not
true." But I am not alone : 5 " there is another that beareth wit-
ness of me," even my Father.
1 tya . . . O.T' IfiKurfv. " iyu, emphatically.
3 Compare John xiv. 10, " Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me? the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself ; but the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."
4 Compare John x. 37, " If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not."
5 See John viii. 16.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 79
In this verse, as usually interpreted, our Lord is represented as
condescending to reason with the Jews on their own principles,
and for argument's sake to admit that his testimony in his own
behalf was not to be accepted, on the ground that no man is a
sufficient witness in his own case; from the inherent untruthful-
ness of human nature. Nothing, we conceive, could be more en-
tirely at variance with the whole scope of our Saviour's reasoning
in what follows, the great object of which is to enforce upon the
Jews the truth, indispensable for their acceptance of hint as the
Son of God, that the Divine alone can testify of the Divine. " I
receive not testimony from man" (v. 34.). To facilitate your
faith in me I indeed refer you to John (verses 33 — 35), whom,
for a time at least, you regarded as a messenger from God, and
who bare witness to me. Nevertheless John, as John — as a mere
man — can never convince you of my divine nature and office.
" Flesh and blood cannot reveal my true glory unto you, but my
Father which is in heaven," (Mat. xvi. 17. Unless you recog-
nize the voice of God as speaking through John, you can never
overcome your carnal prejudices against me, so as truly to believe
that in my human form " dwells the fulness of the Godhead
bodily." No — God alone can testify of God. Ye must " all be
taught of God" John vi. 45. " No man can come to me, except
the Father, which hath sent me, draw him," John vi. 44. " I
have greater witness than that^of John," John v. 36) ; more
direct and immediate evidence of God's having spoken. The
divine works which you behold, are my testimony. They are my
Father's witness to me ; they are my witness to myself,1 as being
performed by the conjoint power of the Father and of the Son.
" I have greater witness than that of John :
For the works which the Father hath given me to finish,
The same works that / 2 do,
Bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me."
JOHN v. 36.
Compare with this —
" My Father worketh hitherto, [in these works,]
And / work."
1 Compare John viii. 18, " I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that
sent me beareth witness of me."
2 7 is emphatical in the original, a. \yu irotu.
80 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
I bear witness in them to myself, by the almighty power and
sovereign authority with which, as the Son of God, you have heard
me, in my own name, command the evil spirits to go forth, and
they obeyed ; and say unto the leper, " 1 will:1 be thou cleansed."
" If I bear witness of myself," apart from God, and as a mere
man ; if my work of healing the impotent man were a human
work, as your position of holding it a breach of God's law would
require you in consistency to maintain, then, indeed, my witness
that 1 am equal to God were not true. But if on the contrary
this work, like all that I have hitherto2 performed, is beyond ques-
tion a work of divine power, then, as unquestionably, my witness
is true. It is coincident with the Father's : it is no human testi-
mony, " for I receive not testimony from man : " "I am not
alone" John viii. 16. "There is another that beareth witness of
me," even my Father.
Regarded as a concession on the part of Jesus, this verse would
be equivalent to a virtual surrender of the very point to be proved,
which was that he was equal with God. It would have been de-
scending from the lofty position which he had taken up, and to
which he wished to raise the minds of his hearers, that they must
listen to him with the same reverence, and pay to him the same
honour as to the Father himself. It represents our Saviour as
reasoning inconclusively. " Let it be granted that lam but a man,
as you suppose, and that therefore my witness with regard to my-
self is not to be accepted : still I will prove to you, even on this
supposition, that I am God, possessed of his very highest attri-
butes." Our Lord's argument, there seems to be no question,
must have been the very reverse. " I must bear witness to myself,
if I am ever to convince you that I am the Son of God. Unless
I bear witness to myself by works displaying a power, a wisdom,
and a goodness, equal to those of the Father, you cannot and
ought not to believe me." " If, indeed, I bear witness to myself"
as a mere man, without performing works equal to those of the
Father, such as alone could prove that he was at the same time
bearing witness to me, " my witness would not be true : " but as,
1 Whereas Moses' miracles were always prefaced, " And the Lord spake unto Moses,
Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod," &c., Exod. vii. 19.
2 tut fligT/, John V. 17.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 81
without doubt, my works can proceed from God alone, my witness
is true.
This verse is thus brought into perfect accordance with ch. viii.
14, "Though I bear witness of myself, my witness is true,"1 and
there will be not even the semblance of contradiction between them.
In ch. v. 31, the proposition is stated hypothetically, " If I bear
witness of myself" apart from the Father, then indeed " my witness
is not true." But the Father does bear evidence along with me,
my works being indubitably works of divine power, and therefore
my witness is true.
In ch. viii. 14, the proposition is stated directly, " Though I
bear witness of myself, yet my witness is true : " for (however little
you recognize my divine origin, as proceeding from, and again
about to return to, the Father) " I know whence I come and
whither I go." You regard me as a man, and you object that no
man's testimony is to be accepted in his own favour. Should this
be granted in the case of man, still the very opposite, as I before
argued with you, is the truth with regard to God. God alone can
testify'of God. My witness of myself is true, because I am God's
Son who came forth from the bosom of the Father, and return to
his bosom. " If I bear witness of myself" alone without the
Father, then indeed my witness is not true : but " I am not alone,
but I, and the Father that sent me." Now, in your law it is
written that the testimony of even two men (a.vd^--u\>) is true and
valid, and though divine testimony is not to be restricted to the
same rules, even this double testimony I can adduce to my divi-
nity. " I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that
sent me beareth witness of me."
In ch. viii. there is no recall, on the part of our Lord, as gene-
rally supposed, of any concession that he had made to the Jews
for the sake of argument. Both parties maintain their original
position. The Jews still obstinately persist in looking on Jesus
as a mere man, and in closing their eyes wilfully on the mani-
festation of divine perfections which he was continually exhibit-
ing ; while our Lord is still anxiously endeavouring, as frequently
throughout the intermediate chapters, to impress on their minds,
1 The words in the Greek are exactly the same as in chap. v. 31, though our trans-
lators have here used " record" instead of " witness."
82 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
that " spiritual things are only spiritually to be discerned," and
that instead of listening to their own carnal reasonings, they
should humbly ask of God himself to teach them (John vi. 45),
and to give them willing minds to " do his will, that they might
know of Jesus' doctrine whether it were of God, or whether he
spake of himself." John vii. 17.
SECTION X.
In the examples which follow, a new element will be observed
to be introduced, a parallelism of numbers, which enters much
more largely into the arrangements of Scripture than has been
generally suspected, and attention to which will often enable us
to detect the divisions of a subject, or, when these are discovered
by other means, will give assurance, by the symmetry of parts
which it introduces, of our having , discovered the true order and
connexion.
The xxviii. and xxix. Psalms, which form one connected com-
position, the subject of which is THE LORD is THE STRENGTH OF
HIS PEOPLE/ are each divisible into three parts or strophes, ar-
ranged in the most systematic form according to the numbers of
the verses.
PSALM xxvin.
[A Psalm] of David.
1. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD ;
My Rock, be not silent to me :
Lest, if thou be silent to me,
I become like them that go down into the pit.
2. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee,
"When I lift up my hands towards thy HOLY ORACLE.
1 Compare Psalm xxviii. 7, 8, " The LOUD is my strength," " The LORD is their
strength," and Psalm xxix. 11," The LORD will give strength unto his people ;" and
Ps. xxix. 1, " Give unto the LOUD glory and strength."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 83
3. Draw me not away with the wicked,
And with the workers of iniquity,
Which speak peace to their neighbours,
But mischief is in their hearts.
4. Give them according to their work, and the wickedness of their
endeavours :
Give them after the deed of their hands :
Render to them their desert.
VOICE from the HOLY ORACLE.
5. Because they regard not the works of the LORD,
Nor the deed of his hands,
He shall pull them down, and not build them up.
6. Blessed be the LORD,
Because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7. The LORD is my strength and my shield ;
My heart trusted in him, and I am helped :
Therefore my heart exulteth, and with my song will I praise him.
8. The LORD is their strength,
And he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance :
Feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
The plan of this Psalm may be thus represented.
Verses Verses
2 Personal-
The words of David.
2.'}
3. ) 3 1
>" f I A f Relating to others.
5. The VOICE in reply from Jehovah.
6- .
7 "ersona'-
-l 1 6.")
f 71
The words of David.
H
J 9.}
The words of David.
e ~»
Relating to others.
The great object of David in this Psalm seems to have been to
comfort the heart of God's people in trouble with that same
" comfort wherewith he had himself been comforted of God."
The answer of Jehovah to his supplication, which forms the cen-
84 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
tral subject of the Psaltn, was originally, in all probability, the
answer of faith given by God to David in secret prayer. But his
own experiences and private coinmunings with God, are here as
usual prepared by " the sweet Psalmist of Israel" as a hymn for
the use and edification of the Church. In order to enter into the
full significance and beauty of many of these compositions, we
must keep in mind that to adapt them for the Temple service
they were frequently thrown into a dramatic form, where, as in
the ii. and xxiv. Psalms for instance, different persons are intro-
duced as speaking. These distinctions would be marked in the
public worship by assigning the various parts to the different
choirs into which the singers appointed for the service of the
Temple were divided.
In following the train of thought suggested by the divisions of
this Psalm, let us endeavour to call up to ourselves the whole
accompaniments and associations of the scene as they would pre-
sent themselves to an Israelite.
In a season of great distress, when iniquity seemed triumphant,
David alarmed lest he and his people should be involved in one
common ruin with the wicked, whose acts were marked by treach-
ery towards their fellow-men (ver. 3), and with utter disregard
of the purposes of God (ver. 5), enters the court of the Tabernacle,
accompanied by a crowd of worshippers, and turning his face
towards the Holy Oracle, which was in the inner sanctuary
(ver. 2) prefers to God his petition.
After an introductory supplication contained in verses 1 and 2,
that God would not be silent to him, but would hear and answer
the voice of his prayer, while he lifted up his hands towards His
Holy Oracle, in verses 3 and 4 he brings the great subject of his
prayer before God that He would not confound the righteous
with the wicked,1 but would speedily execute judgment on the
ungodly despisers of his appointments.
A solemn pause ensues. At length, amidst the profound
1 Such is the interpretation usually given, by most at least of the more recent com-
mentators, of ver. 3, " Draw me not away with the wicked," which they compare with
Psalm xxvi. 8 "Gather not my soul with sinners." But we cannot help thinking that
a farther and still more important meaning is involved, and that this prayer is dictated
not so much by the Psalmist's distrust, of a righteous discrimination being made by
God between the pious and the ungodly in the hour of judgment, as of his own weak
heart, lest if God should longer delay to punish the wicked, he might be tempted
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 85
silence, a voice is heard issuing as from the Holy Oracle, assuring
him of God's interposition in his behalf, aud vindication of His
own honour against the godless workers of iniquity (ver. 5.)1
Ver. 6. David now resumes. In verses 6 and 7 we have his
thanksgiving for his prayer having been heard, and his resolution
to make known to others God's mercy towards him by his offer-
ing " a song" of praise before the congregation of God's people.
These indeed are ever present to David's mind, as being the flock
over which God had made him overseer, and the chief object of
his care on earth. He therefore speaks of them at first without
naming them— when the Psalm was publicly sung in the Taber-
nacle, perhaps pointing them out more definitely by turning
round towards them — and declares that the Lord as He is his
strength ver. 7, so is He theirs ver. 8 ; he is God's " anointed"
pastor over the people ; and in the Lord's hearing and saving
him, He has heard and saved them : he therefore concludes with
a prayer in their behalf, that as the Lord had now done, so He
would continue for ever to " save His people and bless His inhe-
ritance," Himself to feed them as their true Shepherd, and while
He pulls down the wicked ver. 5, to " lift them up for ever."
Observe how beautifully God is represented as hearing and
answering with the minutest attention the prayers of His ser-
vants, by the exact correspondence of the reply in ver. 5 to the
petition in ver. 4, not in substance merely, but of line to line,
and almost word to word.
PRAYER OF DAVID.
4. a Give them according to their work, and the wickedness of their
endeavours :
b Give them according to the deed of their hands :
c Render to them their desert.
in despair to give over the struggle against the example of " the ungodly who prosper
in the world," and yield to the current and say, " Verily I have cleansed my heart
in vain, and washed my hands in innocency," (Ps. Lxxiii. 13).
The prayer, " Draw me not away with the wicked," would thus be equivalent to,
Suffer me not to be drawn away and enticed to ray ruin ; like the similar petition in
the Lord's prayer, " Lead us not into temptation," that is, Let us not, by our being
placed in circumstances too trying for our faith| be led away into sin.
1 In the Temple service, this answer was probably pronounced by the High Priest,
or chaunted by a chorus of priests within the Holy Place, as being the mediators be-
tween God and his people.
86 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ANSWER FROM THE HOLY ORACLE.
5. a Because they regard not the works of the LORD,
b Nor the deed of his hands :
c He shall pull them down, and not build them up.
In his supplication against the wicked ver. 4, David urges as
pleas for God's interposition,
1. The mischievous working and wicked endeavours of the
ungodly against the righteous (a).
2. The deed of their own hands (b).
3. The necessity of God's retributive justice interfering and
causing their evil to return on their heads (c).
In the answer of the Lord, each of these points is taken up in
its regular order :
1. God will " give them according to their work," " because
they regard not the works of the Lord" (a).
2. God will " give them according to the deed1 of their
hands," because they regard not the deed of His hands" (b).
3. The full recompense which David invoked shall be " ren-
dered to them according to their desert." God will " pull them
down and not build them up" (c).
Most commentators refer the origin of this Psalui to the time
of Absalom's rebellion : but in the sudden outbreak of that
conspiracy, no time was permitted to David, who was obliged to
flee instantly from Jerusalem for his life, to enter into the Taber-
nacle, and to present his supplication " towards the Holy Oracle"
1 Our translators, by their want of uniformity in rendering the same words in these
two verses, have in a great measure concealed from the English reader the mutual re-
lation between David's prayer and the Lord's answer. The Hebrew word ??3
(poal) " work" is rendered by " deeds'* in ver. 4, line 1st, and by " works" in ver. 5,
line 1st ; and, as if to render the confusion complete, a different word altogether
r'^?.^. (maaseh) " deed" in ver. 4, line 2d, is translated " work," while in ver. 5, line
2d, it is translated " operation" ! Excellent as our version is on the whole, this is but
one of many instances in which these delicate allusions, and plays on words (parono-
masias), of which the Hebrews were particularly fond, have been obscured by our
Translators from their undue fondness for varying the expression.
The verb '?" (raaO " to work," when distinguished as in this instance from i"1***
" to do,'' refers more to the first contriving and setting about any work (moliri, parare,
Gesenii Lexic.), while •"':•'? (asah) denotes more the actual execution. This is evi-
dent from the order in which the two verbs are placed in Isaiah xli. 4. " Who hath
wrougld and done, it ?" £c. Compare Psalm Iviii. 2 (3). " Yea, in heart ye work
[contrive] wickedness." See also Micah ii. 1.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 87
(ver. 2). A more appropriate occasion seems to be that imme-
diately succeeding the treacherous murder of Abner by Joab,
when David yet felt himself too weak to inflict the merited
punisliment on this overbearing " son of Zeruiah," while the ten
tribes still rejected him as their sovereign, and might be expected
to rise and overwhelm him in righteous indignation and vengeance
for his supposed participation in the assassination of their favour-
ite captain. Viewed in this light, several passages of the Psalm
will be found to gain in significance. Verse 3 would strikingly
depict the character of Joab and his perfidious conduct towards
Abner. " Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the
ivorkers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbours, but evil
is in their hearts." Compare 2 Sam. iii. 26, 27. Verse 4 coin-
cides remarkably with the words of David in 2 Sam. iii. 39, " And
I am this day weak, though anointed king ; and these men, the
sons of Zeruiah, be too hard for me : the Lord shall reward the
doer of evil according to his wickedness." The very sin of Joab
in respect to God is exactly described in v. 5, his disregard of the
working of God's providence in seeking, by criminal means, pre-
maturely to secure for David the sovereignty, which the Lord had
promised, without waiting for God's time. The designation of
David in v. 8, as being " the Anointed' of Jehovah, though not yet
installed fully into the kingly office, would be especially in point
(compare the passage just quoted from 2 Sam. iii. 39) ; — and in like
manner in Psalm xxix. the allusion to the kingdom being the
Lord's, v. 10, and the prayer in v. 11 for the restoration and full
establishment of the blessing of peace unto God's people would
be most appropriate.
PSALM xxix.
A Psalin of David.
1. Give unto tbe LORD, O ye Mighty,
Give unto the LORD glory and strength.
2. Give unto the LOKD the glory due unto his name :
Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
3. The VOICE of the LORD is upon the waters :
The God of glory thundereth :
The LOUD is upon many waters.
88 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
4. The VOICE of the LORD is powerful :
The VOICE of the LORD is full of majesty :
5. The VOICE of the LORD breaketh the cedars ;
Yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6. He inaketh them also to skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7. The VOICE of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
8. The VOICE of the LORD shaketh the wilderness ;
The LOUD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
9. The VOICE of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve,
And strippeth bare the forests :
And in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10. The LORD sat upon the Flood :
Yea the LORD sitteth King for ever.
1 1 . The LORD will give strength unto his people ;
The LORD will bless his people with peace.
Psalm xxix. forms the sequel or complement to Psalm xxviii.
David Lad lifted up the voice of his supplication to the Lord
Ps. xxviii. 2, and was answered by the voice of Jehovah from the
Holy Oracle Ps. xxviii. 5. In the fulness of his gratitude for the
consolation thus imparted, David had promised " a song" of
praise (Ps. xxviii. 7). But he feels how incompetent is the feeble
voice of man adequately to celebrate the praises of that mighty
voice which He has but to " utter and the earth melts and the
pillars of heaven tremble."
In the exordium, therefore, which consists of two verses (v. 1
and 2), David calls upon the mighty angels to ascribe the glory
due unto God's name. Then follows, in a grand chorus of seven
verses, a description of the various powerful effects produced by
the voice of God, in that most magnificent and awful form in
which it reveals itself to mortals, in the thunder of heaven. To
appreciate aright the sublimity of this chorus, we must conceive
of it as performed by the combined voices of the whole people1
uniting their praises as it were with the heavenly choir above.
The Lord is represented as sitting enthroned over the storehouse
of waters that are above the firmament (v. 3; compare Gen. i. 7).
Seven times the VOICE of the LORD is heard peal, as it were, re-
1 There were 4000 singers specially set apart by David to praise the Lord in the
Temple service, 1 Chron. 23, 5.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 89
verberating upon peal, while its resistless effects are described,
extending over the mightiest as well as the lowliest objects of
nature (v. 3-9).
The " seven thunders having uttered their voices" (see the allu-
sion to this passage Kev. x. 3), the single voice that began in the
first two verses of the Introduction with calling - on the angels to
ascribe all majesty and power unto God, now resumes in the two
verses of the Conclusion, ver. 10, 11, But this mighty God is our
God — mighty to destroy, mighty to save. The LORD sat en-
throned on the Flood ; 1 presiding over that deluge which sepa-
rated between the godly and ungodly — an earnest that he will
not now confound the righteous in the same judgment with the
ungodly (see Psalm xxviii. 3-5), " Yea, the LOKD sitteth King for
ever." " The LORD will give strength to his people" even now, to
withstand their present enemies and trials, and hereafter in his
own due time will give unto the meek to inherit the earth and to
delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The plan of the Psalm may be thus exhibited :
> Introduction, The LORD occurs 4 times.
*• )
3. 1 The voice of the LORD,
If The voice of the LORD,
The voice of the LORD,
5. I The voice of the LORD,
7
verses. 7 thunders or voices of
6. the LORD.
7. 1 The voice of the LORD,
8. > The voice of the LORD,
9. J The voice of the LORD, J
>• Conclusion, The LORD occurs 4 times.
The Introduction here answers to the Conclusion, each con-
sisting of two verses, and each containing the LORD four times
repeated.
The seven verses containing the praise of the LORD'S voice of
power are arranged with remarkable symmetry, so as to bear
upon them the impress of the Divine signature, Three. The seven
is divided into what we shall afterwards see is its most beautiful
1 Vl2*3 mabbool is never used but of the historical deluge.
90 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
and perfect division, into three parts consisting of 3 , 1 , 3 , the
single central verse (v. 6) being distinguished from the three
verses on either side of it by the absence of the " VOICE of the
LORD" which is found in all the others. The seven VOICES of the
LORD too, it will be observed, are distributed with much art, so
as still to preserve the triplicate form, two of them being grouped
together in the central verse of the first three, so as, in this rela-
tion, to count for one.
It remains only to remark how clearly the formal arrangement
of the two Psalms points to their connexion and unity, as forming
two members of one entire composition, or to use the expression
of Hengstenberg, constituting a pair of Psalms.
1. The Voice of the LORD forms the central subject in both
Psalms : in Psalm xxviii. attention is concentrated on the Voice
of the LORD as issuing from the Holy Oracle ; in Psalm xxix. we
hear the praises of the Voice of the LORD. The main subject of
each Psalm may thus be defined to be — Psalm xxviii. " The voice
of the LORD speaks comfort and strength to his servants, when
ready to be overwhelmed by their enemies." But, Psalm xxix.,
" this voice of the LORD is the same Almighty voice which speaks
with such majesty and irresistible power in the thunder !"
2. We find here, as in all the pairs of Psalms, (e. g. Psalms i.
and ii., ix. and x., xlii. and xliii., cxi. and cxii. &c.) a recurrence of
similar expressions in" each. The concluding ideas of both Psalms
correspond. Psalm xxviii. 8, " The LORD is their strength."
Psalm xxix. 11, " the LORD will give strength unto his people."
In Psalm xxviii. 9, David prays that God will " bless his inheri-
tance." In Psalm xxix. 11, in the confidence of faith he affirms,
" The LORD will bless his people with peace."
3. Indications are given by the more recondite arrange-
ments (to which the Hebrews seem to have paid particular atten-
tion) that Psalm xxviii. is imperfect and requires something to
complete it. " The LORD" occurs in it five times — the number
of incompleteness, being the broken Ten, the symbol of complete-
ness,1— and it requires the eight " LORDS" in the Introduction
and Conclusion of Psalm xxix. along with the seven " voices of
the LORD" to form twenty, or two complete wholes.
1 Sue Ba'ir's SymloUk, Hungsteuberg's Psalms, Fairbairn's Typology, &c.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 91
Iii like manner, the nine verses of Psalin xxviii. are incomplete
without the addition of the eleven verses of Psalm xxix., which
together make up twenty.1
SECTION XL
PSALM xxv.
Psalm xxv. is still more symmetrical in its arrangements. It
is Ihe first of the Alphabetical Psalms as they are called, in which
each successive verse begins with a new letter of the Hebrew
Alphabet. It has been generally maintained by commentators
that, as this artifice of composition seems to have been employed
for the purpose of aiding the memory, these Psalms are destitute
of any close connexion or consecutive train of ideas. How mis-
taken this opinion is we hope to show by the following analysis
of the Psalm, which discloses a very beautiful gradation of
thought.
The occasion on which David composed this Psalm was evi-
dently one of great distress (vv. 16-18), when God appeared to
hide from him the way of salvation (vv. 4, 5), and seemed almost
about to permit his numerous and cruel enemies (v. 19) to
triumph over him. In these alarming circumstances he flees to
God in prayer as his alone trust and refuge, entreating deliver-
ance from every enemy and evil.
(A PSALM) OF DAVID.
DAVID PRAYS.
s 1. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
ss 2. O my God, I trust in thee :
Let me not be ashamed,
Let not mine enemies triumph over me.
5 3. So also shall none that wait on thee be ashamed :
Ashamed shall they be who act treacherously without cause.
t 4. Shew me thy ways, O LORD ;
Teach me thy paths.
1 See Hengstenberg's Commentary on Psalms XX V1IJ. and XXIX.
92 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
n 5. Lead me in thy TRUTH, and teach me :
For thou art the God of my salvation ;
On thee have I waited all the day.
t 6. Remember thy tender compassions, O LORD, and thy MERCIF.S,
For they have been ever of old.
I"! 7. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions :
According to thy MERCY remember thou me,
For thy GOODNESS' sake, O LORD.
ANSWER from the ORACLE of GOD.
a 8. GOOD and UPRIGHT is the LORD :
Therefore will he instruct sinners in the way.
"< 9. The meek will he guide in judgment ;
And the meek will he teach his way.
3 10. All the paths of the LORD are MERCY and TRUTH
Unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
DAVID.
V 1 1 . For thy Name's sake, O LORD,
Pardon mine iniquity ; for it is great.
Again THE ORACLE replies.
» 12. What man is this that feareth the LORD?
Him shall he instruct in the way that he should choose.
5 13. His own soul shall dwell at ease,
And his seed shall inherit the earth.
o 14. The communion of the LORD is with them that fear him ;
And his covenant, to make them know it.
DAVID resumes his Prayer.
y 15. Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD,
For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.
E 16. Turn thee unto me, and be gracious unto me ;
For I am desolate and afflicted :
- 17. The troubles of my heart they have enlarged ;
O bring me out of my distresses.
" 18. Look upon mine affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
" 19. Look upon mine enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with cruel hatred.
~ 20. O keep my soul and deliver me :»
Let me not be ashamed ; for I put my trust in thee.
n 21. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me ; for I wait on thee.
(s) 22. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 93
Much animation and beauty are added to the Psalm, the mo-
ment we perceive the dramatic form in which it has been cast,
like Psalm xxvii. ; it is divided into three strophes of seven verses
each : in the first of which David prays to God for spiritual direc-
tion and help ; the second strophe contains the answer of the
Oracle of God to David's prayer ; in the third strophe David
resumes his prayer, and in consequence of the gracious assurance
which he has received becomes still more urgent in his sup-
plications for speedy deliverance from his distress. To this last
strophe is appended an additional verse (ver. 22), (out of the alpha-
betical series which ends with v. 21) entreating full redemption
for all Israel, and probably sung in chorus by the whole people.
Each strophe is again subdivided into three parts, consisting
of 3, 1, 3. This division is particularly observable in the central
strophe, in which the answer to David's prayer, contained in
ver. 8-10, and 12-14, is interrupted by a short ejaculatory prayer
of David in v. 11.
In this threefold division, as generally in Scripture, the first
three verses will be found to have more of an introductory and
preparatory character, leading on to, and summed up as it were
in, the middle verse which contains the central subject : and this
again is developed and enlarged upon in the last three verses
which 'form the result or conclusion of the whole. (Compare
pp. 75, 76).
Let us now attempt to trace the train of thought.
STROPHE I. (Ver. 1-7.)
V. 1-3. First, on the ground of his trust and humble waiting
on God, David pleads that God should make a distinction between
those who served him and those who served him not, and not
allow his servants to be disappointed in their hope, and overcome
by their enemies, who, in his case, persecuted him for no cause
except that his uprightness reproved their wickedness.
V. 4. Having thus prepared the way in the first three verses,
he now prefers his chief petition in the central verse, " Shew me
thy ways, 0 LORD," thy ways of " salvation" (v. 5), for I am in
desolation and affliction (vv. 16 and 17), seemingly forsaken by
94 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
thy guidance. Thou hast hid thy way from me, and left me in
a path of darkness and distress. The phrase, " Shew me thy
ways," is taken from the expression of Moses in Exod. xxxiii. 13,
when God threatened to his people after their making the golden
calf, that he would no longer send the Angel of his presence before
them, but would leave them to walk in a way of their own choos-
ing. Moses, however, made intercession with God for himself and
his people. " Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace
in thy sight, shew me now tliy way" by leading us as heretofore
by thy pillar of cloud and fire ; and he received the gracious
answer, " My presence shall go with thee," v. 14. In like man-
ner David here, in an hour of dark despondency, thinking that
God had withdrawn his presence and was leaving him to wander
unprotected in a way of destruction, addresses the prayer to God,
" Shew me thy ways."
Ver. 5-7. In the last three verses, David enforces this prayer by
two topics, — God's truth and mercy, "Lead me in thy truth" (ver. 5) :
but he especially appeals to his mercy, which he invokes repeatedly
under different names, " thy tender compassions and thy mercies"
v. 6 ; " according to thy mercy," " for thy goodness sake" v. 7.
The pleas thus urged are equivalent to an expostulation with God.
" Shew me thy ways," for the ways to which I am at present left
can surely not be thy ways — thy ways of truth and mercy ! Where
is now thy truth, and faithfulness to thy servants, that thou per-
mittest the enemies of righteousness to triumph over them that'
place their trust in thee ? Where is now thy mercy ? Is it clean
gone for ever ?
STROPHE II. (Vv. 8-14.
To these expostulations the three first verses of the second
strophe form a complete answer. The topics are taken up as
usual in the reverse order.
1. Where is thy mercy ? " 0 remember me for thy goodness'
sake ! " The answer is, (v. 8) " Good is the Lord."
2. Where is now thy truth ? Answer : (v. 8) " Good and
upright (= true) is the Lord," and therefore will He instruct sin-
ners, such as thou has acknowledged thyself to be, in His ways.
But (v. 9) they must meekly submit to His guidance and teach-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 95
ing, and wait for His judgment without impatiently demanding,
Where is His mercy ? Where is His truth ? " All the paths of
the Lord," however afflictive and dark they may appear at the
moment to the sufferer, " are mercy and truth unto such as keep
His covenant and His testimonies," v. 10.
V. 11. During the pause which follows, David in deep self-
abasement bows himself meekly to God's reproof and prefers only
the lowly plea, " For thy name's sake, 0 LORD, pardon mine ini-
quity : for it is great." I confess my sin, as if he had sdid, which
deserves thy severest chastisement, and only ask forgiveness for
thy Name's sake, which, as thou didst reveal it to thy servant
Moses, is, " The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long
suffering, and abundant in mercy'* and truth." Exod. xxxiv. 6.
For thy mercy and truth's sake, which I ought not for a moment
to have doubted, I pray thee to " pardon mine iniquity : for it is
great."
V. 12-14. Again the Oracle replies, What man is this that
shows a submissive fear of God ? Such is the man that He will
teach His ways, and show that all lead to salvation and to his
real good. All blessings shall be his. His own soul shall dwell
at ease : his seed shall inherit the earth. The Lord will admit
him to secret communion with Himself, and manifest to him in
his experience the blessings of His covenant.
STROPHE III.
•
Ver. 1 5-17. Strengthened in his faith by this gracious answer
to his prayer, David professes his steadfast confidence which would
wait meekly and perseveringly for the promised deliverance of
the Lord.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord
For He it is that shall pluck my feet out of the net.
But he prays that He would speedily deliver him :
Turn thee unto me, and be gracious unto me,
1 In the Hebrew -ran chesed, " mercy," the game word as in the 10th verse of
this Psalm.
96 SCRIPTUBE PARALLELISM.
because of — and this is the plea on which he would now specially
insist — the extremity of the sufferings to which he was reduced ;
For I am desolate and afflicted :
The troubles of my heart they £mine enemies] have enlarged :
O bring me out of my distresses.
18. Nay, a third time he repeats this plea, and assigns to it the
central njace in the strophe.
Look upon mine affliction, and my pain ;
but at the same time he again meekly acknowledges that these
are the just punishment of his numerous offences,
And forgive all my sins.
Ver. 19-21. The central petition is here, as in the 1st strophe,
taken up and repeated in the succeeding verses. In the 1st
strophe, the petitions in v. 4 " Sheio me thy ways, 0 LORD, Teach
me thy paths" were again urged in v. 5, " Lead me in thy truth,
and teach me." In like manner, in this last strophe, the senti-
ment of the central verse (v. 18) is taken up and repeated in v. 19
" Look upon mine enemies, £c." In order to draw attention to
this connexion, the regular alphabetical sequence is broken
through, and the same letter, and even word, (" Look upon" n^,
r'eh) are made to begin both ve'rses.1
There were two petitions in v. 18th. 1. " Look upon mine
affliction and my pain," 2. " And forgive all my sins." The subject
of the first (his affliction and pain) proceeded from his enemies,
of the 2d (his sins) from himself. The 1st has been enlarged on
in vv. 19 and 20 ; the second is now touched on and qualified in
v. 21.
"Let integrity and uprightness preserve me: for I wait on thee."
Notwithstanding his sins which he had confessed as justly meriting
in themselves God's utmost wrath, lie could yet appeal to the
Searcher of hearts for the general sincerity and uprightness of
that repentance whicli by His grace he had been enabled to exer-
1 Versos 18th and 19th are thus made both to hegin with a -, whereas v. 18 ought
regularly to have begun with a ~.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 97
else, and of his endeavours, amidst all his imperfections, to serve
God and humbly wait on Him.
This plea is noticed, though slightly, since it had been men-
tioned in the answer of God, as necessary to entitle him to God's
favour, v. 10, " All the paths of Jehovah are mercy and truth unto
suck as keep his covenant and his testimonies." Slightly, we say :
not that it is not most important, nay an indispensable condition
on the part of the suppliant, but because this was to form the
main plea of the next psalm, Psalm xxvi., which is the sequel
or complement of this :
XXVI.
1. Judge me, O Jehovah :
For I have walked in mine integrity.
2. Examine me, O Jehovah, and prove me,
Try my reins and my heart.
3. For —
notwithstanding my losing sight, in a moment of darkness and
distress, of thy mercy and truth, yet in the habitual tenor of my
life,
— thy mercy * is before mine eyes ;
And I have walked in thy truth [as my guide].
V. 22. David winds up the Psalm with a prayer for the whole
Church, that the time of Israel's redemption from every evil may
be hastened.
It may be useful to present in a more condensed form the train
of thought in the three Strophes, as brought out by attention to
the threefold division of the 7 verses, 3-1-3, reminding the reader
that the first member of a ternary series states an introductory
proposition, the second contains the central or main thought, of
which the third forms the expansion or development.
1 The same word ~3l^ hesed, mercy, as in Psalm xrv. 7 and 10.
98 SCRIPTUEE PARALLELISM.
STROPHE I.
Verses
( 1-3. I trust in thee : and none that trust in the Lord should be
"^ ashamed.
( 4. Therefore shew me thy ways, which thou seemest to have
" "^ N hidden from me.
8. 5-7. Thy ways of truth and mercy.
STROPHE n.
Answer of the Lord.
8-10. All God's ways are mercy and truth to his people, even
those of afflictive discipline for sin, if they will meekly
submit to his chastisement.
David.
11. I confess my sin which deserves thy severest chastisement,
and only ask forgiveness for thy Name's sake, " The
Lord, the Lord God, abundant in mercy and truth."
Answer of the Lord.
12-14. If thou thus submit with true fear unto the Lord, he will
direct thee, prosper thee and thy seed, and shew thee
the blessings of his communion and covenant.
STROPHE ITT.
15-17. Now will I look without unbelieving impatience to the Lord,
in assured confidence to be brought out of my distress,
the severity of which I would plead for speedy deliver-
18. Yes — mine affliction only would I now plead, which is be-
yond my strength to bear — and my sin, which thou
only canst remove.
19-21. My afflictions proceed from numerous and cruel enemies, to
whom thou canst not abandon my soul and put my
trust to shame. My sins, though so great and frequent,
I am struggling in sincerity and uprightness to resist,
22. and to serve thee perfectly : and I long and wait for
thy redemption for myself and my people.
•SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 99
There are irregularities as to the order and number of the let-
ters in this and several of the alphabetical Psalms, which have
been eagerly caught at by certain critics as incontestable proofs
of the very corrupt and mutilated state of the text of the Hebrew
Scriptures : while to others they have given occasion to rash at-
tempts at emendation to remove the supposed defects. The
efforts of both parties we consider to be altogether futile and
superfluous. The more closely the Old Testament is examined,
the greater reason has the sober critic to admire the wonderful
care with which God lias watched over the integrity of his own
blessed Word, by inspiring the people entrusted with its preser-
vation, with a superstitious reverence for the very letter of Scrip-
ture : and one of the important services which we expect the
study of Parallelism to perform for the Scriptures is to prove, by
its arrangements being preserved still intact, the remarkably
pure and uncorrupted state in which the text has been handed
down to us. The tendency of all the later investigations of the
sounder portion of the German school of criticism has been to
vindicate the genuineness and authenticity even of those pas-
sages of sacred writ which had been generally set down as later
additions and interpolations, such as the titles of the Psalms, and
many incidental notes of time and other minor circumstances in
the books of Moses.1 We hope to be able to shew satisfactory
reasons for all the irregularities which occur in the alphabetical
Psalms : but at all events sufficient marks of design are observ-
able, as Hengstenberg in several instances has shewn, to prove
that they are not unintentional, but proceeded originally from the
author.
In the Psalm before us, for instance, one of the most remark-
able deviations from the alphabetical order is that the letter 1 is
omitted, and in order to make up the number of the alphabet, 22,
a supernumerary verse is added at the end (v. 22) beginning with
the letter B. Now that this is not attributable to any error on
the part of the copyists, is evident from a comparison with the
next alphabetical psalm, the xxxiv., which in many respects pre-
sents striking points of resemblance, and in which the ornis-
1 Such as " unto this day," &c. See especially Hengstenberg's admirable work on
the Authenticity of the Pentateuch, passim, and his remarks on the titles of the Psaluis
in his Commentary.
100 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
8ion of the same letter 1 occurs, and a similar additional verse is
appended to the end, beginning with the same letter, nay with a
part of the same verb redeem (n;| padah), denoting apparently,
by the marked similarity, that as Psalm xxv. is sprayer for the
redemption of the righteous from the evils that oppress them,
Psalm xxxiv. is a thanksgiving for a particular instance of deli-
verance vouchsafed to David, in which he sees an earnest and
pledge of that full and final redemption which God has in store
for his people. Such coincidence and method in the midst of
apparent disorder cannot be the effect of chance, or the careless
blunder of transcribers : no more than the transposition of the
same two letters (y and B) in each of the three central elegies of
the five in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, can be without signifi-
cance or design.
Nor are we at any loss to perceive a good reason for the omis-
sion of this letter, in Psalm xxv. Since each of the three
Strophes was to consist of seven verses, beginning each with a
separate letter of the alphabet, one of the 22 letters behoved to
be dropped.1
Still, had the Psalm been thus left with only 21 verses, it
would have failed to manifest by the number its alphabetical
character.2 An additional verse was therefore necessary to be
superadded to make up the number 22. So skilfully has this
addition been managed, that the symmetry of the Psalm is not
impaired but improved. This verse consists of a single line and
clause, the only instance that occurs throughout the Psalm, with
the exception of the first verse, with which it is thus brought into
correspondence, and these two verses in a manner stand out by
themselves apart from the alphabetical series: for the 2d verse
begins again with " the first letter of the alphabet. Verse 1 and
verse 22 thus enclose the whole Psalm (by this means made to
consist of 20 verses, or two tens) between them, of which they,
form a brief compendium or quintessence = I trust in thee
(v. 1) : therefore deliver me (v. 22).3
1 The same reason is applicable to Psalm xxxiv.
2 By which the Psalm was marked as a composition so far complete in itself and
rounded off.
3 The condition necessary for successful prayer on the part of the worshipper is trust
in God, and not impatiently asking, Where is thy truth ? Where is thy mercy ? (see
SCRIPTUKE PARALLELISM. 101
To mark this intended isolation of verse 1st, it might have
been thought, on a first consideration, that not sbut some let-
ter distinct from the alphabetical series, as in the case of the 22d
verse, should have been chosen to begin the Psalm. But to use
the expression of Hengstenberg, it was necessary that the Psalm
should " bear, as it were, on its front the signature of an alpha-
betical Psalm" by beginning with the 1st letter s. Attention
was drawn to this still more, as not being accidental but inten-
tional, by the 2d verse again being made to begin with the same
letter K : but as justice had already so far been done to this let-
ter, the whole verse is not appropriated to it, but the second word
is made to begin with 3, the second letter of the alphabet.
What still further shews the nicety of design in the structure
of the Psalm, and disproves entirely the supposition thrown out
by some critics that verse 22 did not originally form a part of the
Psalm (but was added at some subsequent period, perhaps when
the people were groaning under the Babylonish captivity), is the
necessity of both these lines to complete the symmetry of the
verses if we regard the parallelism alone without reference to the
alphabetical letters, or the number of the verses. The first three
verses will thus be found to form six lines consisting of three
regular couplets.
Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in thee :
Let me not be ashamed,
Let not mine enemies triumph over me.
So also shall none that wait on thee be ashamed :
Ashamed shall they be, who act treacherously without cause.
The 1st verse and first line of the 2d verse thus correspond,
and form the first couplet, which is followed by two others : and
the anomaly is removed of a single line appearing to stand alone
followed by a triplet, and couplet.
p. 94). Compare Heb. xi. 6. " He that coraeth to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." James i. 6, 7, " But let him
ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven
with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing
of the Lord."
102 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
In like manner, the last 4 verses (19-22), if we regard the
parallelism alone, form six lines, consisting of a couplet (v. 19)
and a quatrain (ver. 20, 21, 22) arranged as an introverted paral-
lelism of four members.
19. Look upon mine enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with cruel hatred.
20. a | O keep my soul and deliver me ;
b | Let me not be ashamed ; for I put my trust in thee.
21. b | Let integrity and uprightness preserve me ; for I wait on thee.
22. a | Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Here a and a are simple petitions, while b and b are bi-
membral lines, consisting each of a petition and its plea. Thus
perfect symmetry is restored.
The parallelism too is thus rendered more exact between the
first sub-division (ver. 15-17) and the third sub-division (ver.
19-22) of Strophe III., as each thus consists of a couplet and a
four-lined stanza ; for ver. 16-17 form like ver. 20-22 an intro-
verted parallelism.
a | Turn thee unto me, and be gracious unto me,
b | For I am desolate and afflicted ;
b | The troubles of my heart they have enlarged ;
a | 0 bring me out of my distresses.
Here a and a are petitions : b and b are their respective
pleas.
The probable reason of the letter P having been omitted, and
* substituted in its place, has already been stated. (See p. 96).
PSALM xxxiv.
A Psalm of David : on his feigning madness before Abimelech
And he drove him away, and he departed.
s 1 . I will bless the LORD at all times :
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
- 2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD ;
Let the meek hear, and rejoice.
'3. O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt his name together.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 103
i 4. I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
n 5. They looked unto him, and were lightened :
And their faces — let them not be ashamed !
t 6. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
ri 7. The Angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him,
And delivereth them.
a 8. O taste and see that the LORD is good ;
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
*• 9. O fear the LORD, ye his saints :
For there is no want to them that fear him.
210. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger :
But they that seek the LOUD shall not want any good thing.
^ It. Come, ye children, hearken unto me ;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
to 12. What man is he that desireth life,
And loveth many days that he may see good ?
3 13. Keep thy tongue from evil,
And thy lips from speaking guile,
fc 14. Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.
» 15. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous.
And his ears are open unto their cry.
£ 16. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil,
To cut oft' the remembrance of them from the earth,
s 17. They cried, and the LORD heard,
And delivered them out of all their troubles.
p 18. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart ;
And saveth, such as be of a contrite spirit.
"! 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous ;
But the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
t? 20. He keepeth all his bones :
Not one of them is broken.
i"1 21. Evil shall slay the wicked :
And they that hate the righteous shall be held guilty.
22. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants.
And none of them that trust in him shall be held guilty.
104 SCKIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Psalm xxxiv. has been formed exactly on the model of Psalm
xxv. It is divided in like manner into three Strophes of seven
verses each; which again are subdivided into three parts, consist-
ing of 3, 1, 3. The letter \ as in Psalm xxv. is omitted, so that
the 21st verse ends the alphabet, and the 22d verse (which gives
the sum of the whole Psalm, and corresponds with the Title),
stands without the alphabetical series, and as in Psalm xxv.
begins with 3.
This Psalm, as the title shews, was written by David on occa-
sion of the signal deliverance vouchsafed to him, when he was in
terror of his life from the Philistines to whom he had fled for
refuge from the persecution of Saul.
The first and third Strophes (ver. 1-7, and 15-21) are more
didactic, detailing the experience and convictions of David and
the more matured saints of God with regard to afflictions : while
the central Strophe (v. 8-14) is hortatory, exhorting all, but par-
ticularly the young, to trust and filial reverence towards the Lord,
The argument of the Psalm, if we analyze it according to the
divisions given, may be thus stated.
It will be observed that, as in the preceding Psalm, the first
three verses of each Strophe are introductory to the central sub-
ject, which is contained in the fourth verse ; and this again is
amplified in the three concluding verses.
STROPHE I.
1-3. Bless the Lord with me, all ye his saints, and let his praise be our
constant theme.
4. For he hath delivered his servant in extreme distress.
5-7. Magnify, I say, the Lord with me : for many such instances have
God's saints to recount from their own experience in afflictions
(v. 5) ; but every fresh example of remarkable interposition for
one of the brethren (v. 6) ought to be specially improved to im-
print on the mind the truth taught to our forefather Jacob by a
vision of angels at Mahanaim (Gen. xxxii. 2), The Angel of God's
presence encamps with all his attendant hosts around those that
fear him, and delivers them from every enemy and evil (v. 7).
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 105
STROPHE II.
X
8—10. Let me then invite all to prove the goodness and overflowing bounty
of the LORD, and to fear nought but the living God alone, who
•will supply their every want.
11. On the young especially would I call, to hear what this fear is which
banishes every other fear : what it gives ; what it requires.
12-14. Life and every good are its gifts : its requirement is purity in words
(ver. 13), deeds, and heart (v. 14.)
STROPHE III.
To enforce this exhortation, the Psalmist contrasts the widely
different results of affliction to the righteous and to the wicked.
»
15—17. God is no indifferent spectator of the righteous and the wicked. His
providence watches over the former for good, over the latter for
evil. He hears and delivers the righteous in then: afflictions.
1 8. He is ever nigh to save them, if their afflictions have answered their
intended end, in breaking the stony heart and softening it.
19—21. Many indeed are the strokes wherewith God sees it necessary to
chasten his children : but not a bone of them shall be broken ;l
while the calamities of their ungodly enemies are judgments of
God for their destruction.
22. To sum up the whole : Redemption from all evils and guilt, shall be
theirs who serve and trust the Lord.
1 There is an evident antithesis designed between the two uses of the word " broken "
in verses 18 and 20. Tf the heart of the believer is broken for sin, not a bone of him
shall be broken. No fatal evil shall overtake him. His strength (c-:? etzem means
both " bone " and " strength " in Hebrew) shall be unbroken. If he fall, it is but to
rise again. " He may be perplexed, but he shall not be in despair ; persecuted, but
not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed." 1 Cor. iv. 8, 9.
This was eminently true of the Righteous One. Though " it pleased the Lord to
bruise him," and to give his " body to be broken for us," yet " not a bone of him was
broken." His strength remained unbroken even in death. See John xix. 33, 36, and
compare Ex. xii. 46.
106 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
PSALM xxxvu.
Psalm xxxvii., the next in succession of the alphabetical Psalms,
affords strong confirmation of the correctness of the arrangement
which we have given of Psalms xxv. and xxxiv. It differs from
these, in each letter of the alphabet having two verses assigned to
it, with the exception of three (see ver. 7, 20, and 34) which have
only one verse each. The position of these letters is remarkable,
the first and last occurring at the exact interval of seven verses
from the beginning and the end of the Psalm ("> begins ver. 7,
and ? v. 34), while the other concludes the half of the psalm
(=> begins ver. 20). The verses to which these are prefixed differ
also in being triplets, while the rest are generally couplets. tStill
so long as I confined my attention to the number of verses
(which in the two former Psalms coincides with the number of
the letters} I could discover no very definite arrangement : but
the moment that it occurred to me to count by letters instead of
verses, I found that the arrangement of the Psalm was exactly
the same as that of the two former, the whole being divisible into
three strophes of seven letters each (y being omitted), which again
are subdivided into three parts, 3, 1, 3, but with this demonstra-
tion of the correctness of my previous theory, that the unit in the
centre is marked as standing alone, l>y that letter having but a
single verse assigned to it.
The object of David in this Psalm was to encourage believers
under one of the severest trials of their faith to which they were
exposed under the Old Testament dispensation, from observing
the apparent prosperity and triumph of the wicked. It may be
considered as the third and closing Psalm of the first series of
Alphabetical Psalms [in all seven] all of which relate to the < one
subject of the afflictions of God's people.
In Psalm xxv. we have before us a sufferer in the deep waters
of affliction " lifting up his soul to God," overcoming through
the power of faith the suggestions of the Tempter prompting
him to call in question the " mercy and truth " of God, and
strengthened to put up in renewed confidence the prayer, " Be-
deem thine Israel, 0 God, out of all his troubles."
Psalm xxxiv. calls on the meek and suffering saints of God to
have the praise of the Lord continually in their mouths from the
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 107
many fresh instances which from time to time He affords to His
afflicted servants of deliverance from extreme perils, and to hold
fast the belief that the redemption prayed for in the former Psalm
shall be accorded by the Lord. " The Lord shall redeem the soul
of his servants."
Psalm xxx vii. is an encouragement and warning, meantime
never to murmur at the present prosperity and triumph of the
wicked, and above all never to be drawn away through envy of
their apparent success to follow their evil ways, so as to be in-
volved in their punishment and ruin.
" Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil,
For evil-doers shall be cut off." — Ver. 8, 9.
Their prosperity is but transitory. The afflictions of believers are
but for a moment, and will issue in their deliverance and salva-
tion. The time of judgment is fast approaching, when the wicked
shall vanish like " smoke," " but the meek shall inherit the earth,
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." The
whole Psalm is but a series of variations on this one theme, yet is
not without a certain regular order.
PSALM xxxvn.
[A PSALM] OF DAVID.
I.
x 1 . Fret not thyself because of evil-doers,
Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
a 3. Trust in the LORP, and do good ;
So dwell in the land, and feed on truth ;
4. Delight thyself also in the LORD ;
And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
J 5. Commit thy way unto the LORD ;
Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass ;
6 . And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light,
And thy judgment as the noonday.
i 7. Rest in the LOKD, and wait patiently for him :
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,
Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
108 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
n 8. Cease from anger and forsake wrath :
Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9. For evil doers shall be cut off;
But those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
i 10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be :
Yea thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be :
11. But the meek shall inherit the earth ;
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
* 12. The wicked deviseth evil against the just,
And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13. The LORD shall laugh at him ;
For he seeth that his day is coming.
IT.
ft 14. Their sword the wicked have drawn out,
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay the upright, in walk.
15. Their sword shall enter into their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
ts 16. A little that a righteous man hath,
Is better than the riches of many wicked,
1 7. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
11 18. The LORD knoweth the days of the upright:
And their inheHtance shall be for ever.
19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time :
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
3 20. For the wicked shall perish :
And the enemies of the LORD, as the fat of lambs —
They have consumed — into smoke have they consumed away!
V 21. The wicked borroweth, and shall not repay;
But the righteous is ever shewing mercy, and giving :
22. For those that are blessed of Him shall inherit the earth :
And those that are cursed of Him shall be cut off.
& 23. By the LORD are a man's steps established ;
And He will delight in his way.
24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down ;
For the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
3 25. I have been young, and now am old ;
Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his seed begging bread.
26. He is ever merciful, and lendeth ;
And his seed is blessed.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 109
m.
8 27. Depart from evil, and do good,
And dwell for evermore.
28. For the LORD loveth judgment
And forsaketh not his saints ;
"^] They are preserved for ever :
But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29. The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell therein for ever.
E 30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom,
And his tongue talketh of judgment.
31. The law of his God is in his heart :
His steps do not swerve.
s 32. The wicked watcheth the righteous,
And seeketh to slay him.
33. The LOUD will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.
P 34. Wait on the LORD and keep his way,
And he shall exalt thee to inherit the land :
When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
^ 35. I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not :
Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
*> 37. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ;
For there is a future to the man of peace.
38. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together :
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
ni 39. And the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD ;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
40. And the LORD has helped them, and delivered them :
He will deliver them from the wicked, and save them j
Because they have trusted in him.
The first and last strophes are more hortatory, " Fret not thy-
self, &c." " Depart from evil, &c." while the central is didactic,
proving the reasonableness of the duty required, 1st, negatively,
by removing the objections arising from the apparent disadvan-
tages on the part of the righteous (ver. 14-19), the main argu-
ment being again repeated and placed in the central position
(ver. 20), of the speedy destruction of the enemies of the Lord and
110 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
of his people : and 2dly, positively, by showing the advantages
which the righteous man even now enjoys amidst all his trials.
The following is an analysis of the Psalm according to the divi-
sions indicated by the letters.
STROPHE I.
1—6. Be not disturbed at the prosperity of the wicked, for it is short-lived :
but look only to do the duty of thine own station in full confidence
in the protection and truth of the Lord, assured that He will bestow
every blessing, vindicate thy cause, and bring every thing to a pros-
perous issue.
7. Wait, I say, in stillness God's time : neither 1st, envying the pros-
perity of the wicked, nor 2dly, fearing their evil devices against
thyself.
These two points are then enlarged on under the next three letters,
or six verses.
8-13. 1st, Avoid all impatience at God's permitting the prosperity of evil-
doers, lest thou shouldst thus be tempted to do evil also, and be in-
volved in their punishment, which shall be speedy and utter destruc-
tion, while those that meekly suffer and look to God to avenge them,
shall have an abiding inheritance and unalloyed peace (Ver. 8—11).
2dly, Fear not the devices and rage of the wicked, for God's
approaching judgment will shew how futile they are (ver. 12, 13.)
Here, however, (in the mention of the present apparent triumph
and superiority of the wicked) a sensitive chord was struck in the
persecuted sufferer's heart, which could not be made all at once to
cease to vibrate. The Psalmist therefore takes it as the key note
of his next strain.
STROPHE II.
1. Negative. Removal of objections.
Whatever may be the ultimate fate of the righteous and the
wicked, the mourner is ready to exclaim, the immediate difficul-
ties and disadvantages of the righteous are too hard for flesh and
blood to bear.
14-19. 1st, The devices of the wicked threaten them with instant destruc-
tion, (ver. 14.)
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. Ill
True : but their devices shall return on their own heads.1 (ver.
15.)
2d, The righteous are often poor, while the wicked abound in
riches.
True : still better is a little with God's blessing. Their
riches and strength cannot save the wicked from final destruc-
tion, whereas God upholdeth the righteous, (vers. 16 and 17.)
3d, Times of evil and famine come on the righteous as well as on
the wicked.
True : but God will never forsake the righteous, but will give
them length of days, and an enduring inheritance, preserve them
in evil, and satisfy all their wants, (ver. 18 and 19.)
20. Yes, again I repeat as the central point to be kept in view : Repine
not from discouraging comparisons of thine own present state
•with that of the wicked. Their prosperity is momentary. They
shall perish. They are the Lord's enemies as much as thine ;
and I already see, and foretell as accomplished their utter dis-
appearance from God's laud.
2. Positive. Statement of Advantages.
Nay, God's promises in his Word are true, and verified to the
righteous and wicked far more even in this mixed state of things
than first appearances would suggest.
21—26. The wicked lend not, but borrow often; yet their riches thrive
not, — because God's curse is upon them — and they have not the
1 In the original we have a fine instance of that artifice in composition by which
" the sound becomes an echo to the sense." The order' in the Hebrew is :
14. Their sword the wicked have drawn out,
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay the upright in walk.
15. Their sword shall enter into their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
Here not only are the two verses (14 and 15"), by both beginning with the same letter
n, marked as being closely connected together (so as to form an introverted pa-
rallelism) but in the same word " sword" a"h cherev, with which ver. 14 had
begnn, returning again at the beginning of ver. 15, we see, as it were, the recoil upon
the wicked themselves of the weapon which they had unsheathed for the destruction of
others. With this may be compared the well-known instance of Pope :
Up the high hill he heaves the huge round stone :
The hvge round stone, resulting with a bound,
Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground.
112 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
means to repay : whereas the righteous has ever a little to give
f and wants not — because God's blessing rests upon it.1 (ver.
21, 22.)
It is on the Lord's blessing that all permanent prosperity must
rest : therefore no fatal evil can befal him who possesses his favour.
(Ver. 23, 24.) In confirmation the Psalmist states the result of
his own long experience in life. (Ver. 25, 26.)
STROPHE III. ,
27-38. " Depart" then, once more I repeat, "from evil, and do good."
The Psalmist returns again in the last strophe to the exhorta-
tions with which he had commenced in the 1st strophe ; " Trust
in the LORD and do good." (Ver. 3.) " Fret not thyself in any
wise to do evil" (ver. 8.) : and thus shalt thou secure an abid-
ing rest with Him who is " the dwelling-place" of the righteous
" in all generations." (Ver. 27-29.)
But by the righteous I mean those whose mouth utters no
murmur, nor heart frets at what is God's appointment ; but who
in word, heart, and deed2 are directed by wisdom, the law of
God, and unswerving rectitude. (Ver. 30, 81.) Such need fear
no plots of the wicked. (Ver. 32.)
34. Wait therefore patiently (is the central point of my exhortation),
on the Lord, and soon shalt thou see the wide distinction
which he puts between the righteous and the wicked.
35—40. Such has ever been my own experience (ver. 35, 36) : such will be
that of those who will attentively mark the providential dealings of
God : and strengthened in faith they will be enabled to say that
as " the Lord has helped and delivered" the righteous in times
1 The wicked borroweth, and shall not repay :
But the righteous showeth mercy, and is ever giving :
For those that are blessed of Him shall inherit the earth :
And those that are cursed of Him shall be cut off.
Such, we believe to be the true transition and meaning. (See Hengstenberg, &c.)
Observe the parallelism of the lines, the 4th giving the reason for the statement in
the 1st, and the 3d for that in the 2d, and compare Deut xv. 6. " For the Lord thy
God blesseth thee, as He promised thee : and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but
thou shalt not borrow." Compare also ver. 26 of this Psalm where the words " He is
ever merciful and lendeth" express not so much what the righteous does from libera-
lity of disposition, as what he is enabled to do from the blessing of God on his sub-
stance, since the Psalmist is stating from his own experience in life the prosperity
which he has observed always to attend the righteous.
2 " These two verses exhibit the same threefold division as the Decalogue. Ver. 30
refers to word, the second hemistich'of ver. 31st to deed, and in the middle between
both stands the heart." — Hengstenberg's Commentary on the Psalms.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 113
past, full and final deliverance and salvation will be the portion
of those who " have trusted in Him."
1 The principal apparent irregularities in this Psalm, besides
the three letters ">= and ? which have only one verse each, are
that the letter * seems to be altogether omitted, and the stanza
assigned to the preceding letter ° is of a most disproportionate
length, as it consists of three verses, and eight lines.
» 27. Depart from evil, and do good,
And dwell for evermore.
28. For the LORD loveth judgment,
And forsaketh not his saints ;
|>'] They are preserved for ever :
But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29. The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell therein for ever.
According to Hengstenberg the three verses assigned to this
one letter are in designed contrast to the three letters which have
but one verse each. The stanza too, he remarks, is artfully con-
structed, so that " two verses of the usual length (two lines) enclose
a third of unusual length (four lines) between them," thus form-
ing a sort of constructive triplet, consisting of Distich, Tetrastich,
Distich. But besides, the stanza may be considered as an Intro-
verted Parallelism, in which verses 27 and 29 correspond, both
being expressive of the same idea, " If thou art righteous and
doest good, thou shalt dwell in the land for evermore ;" while the
intermediate tetrastich of verse 28 assigns as the reason the
righteousness of the Lord which will never fail his people, but
must interpose to judge between the righteous and their enemies.
Still when we look more narrowly into this stanza in the
Hebrew, we find that the third line of verse 28 has the want-
ing y (ayin) concealed within its first word ^5^ Tolam, and
only partially hidden by the prepositional prefix '-> (for ever).
By restoring its rights to the », we should have two stanzas,
each with the usual number of lines attached to them.
1 I must beg of my less critical readers to excuse the following remarks which are
necessary to justify my assertion of the uncorrupted state of the present text of Scrip-
ture, and of the extreme nicety exhibited by the sacred writers in the formal arrange-
ment of their compositions. They can omit them and pass on to the next Psalm.
H
114 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
0 Depart from evil and do good,
And dwell for evermore.
For the LORD loveth judgment,
And forsaketh not his saints ;
y For ever they are preserved :
But the seed of the wicked shall te cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell therein for ever.
Hengstenberg observes that one cause of the deviation from
the exact alphabetical order in this Psalm was the desire which
the Psalmist had of giving a place to the Ten, the number of Per-
fection, so as to form in all 40 verses or four Decads, instead of
44 verses which would have resulted from assigning two verses
to each of the 22 letters. It is corroborative of this that in the
last stanza beginning with ver. 39, the n is concealed behind a i
(ry^i oo-th' shoo-ath), so that with the apparent omission
of the y also, the ostensible number of letters in the alpha-
betical series is only 20 or two Tens ; just as in Psalm xxv. the
number of 20 is obtained by concealing a behind » in ver. 2, and
omitting ' altogether. In the present Psalm, the twenty letters
will be found to be symmetrically divided by the three letters
which have but a single verse under them. Counting the letters
always till we are stopped by one of these three letters, the
arrangement is 3, 7, 7, 3.
The reason of selecting the y for omission will be evident on
inspection of the strophes. The beginning of Strophe II. had
been marked by the n stanza having six lines instead of the usual
number four, forming an Introverted Parallelism. In like man-
ner, the beginning of Strophe III. is marked by the unusual
number of lines assigned to the D stanza through the apparent
omission of the y, and forming like the other an Introverted
Parallelism.
Thus every irregularity is satisfactorily accounted for.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 115
SECTION XII.
PSALM LI.
This, though not one of the alphabetical Psalms, yet resembles
closely in its structure the three which we have examined, as it
consists in the Hebrew of 21 verses, which are divided into three
Strophes of seven verses each.
This is one of the most profoundly interesting Psalms of the
whole collection, from the insight which it gives us into the views
entertained by the Old Testament saints respecting sin, repent-
ance, and renewal by God's Spirit, as drawn from the depths of Da-
vid's personal experience — shewing us how nearly these approxi-
mate to the views held by believers under the brighter light of
the Christian revelation. What St Paul has said of the father of
the faithful, that " God preached before the Gospel unto Abra-
ham" (Gal. iii. 8), may with equal truth be applied to the man
after God's own heart, when he was inspired to compose the
Psalm before us. Nowhere have we a clearer or fuller description
of the nature and requisitions of a true evangelical repentance
than that which the Spirit here dictates to David. Nowhere do
we find a more profound appreciation of the true nature of all sin,
or a more thorough renunciation of every attempt at self-justifica-
tion and keen apprehension of the inherent corruption of human
nature, 3-7 (1-5) — a more entire recognition of the necessity of
regeneration being from first to last the work of God's Spirit,
8-14 (6-12) — or finally, of the true nature of that return which
is required of the justified sinner for the unmerited and inesti-
mable blessings which have been conferred upon him, 15—21
(13-19.)
The subject of each of the strophes may shortly be stated to be
Strophe I. Confession of sin — the previous requisite on the part of the
sinner, for obtaining the great blessing of the Central Strophe.
Strophe IT. Regeneration — the work of God's grace alone.
Strophe III. The acceptable return to God — on the part of the sinner :
or, as the whole Psalm is in the form of a prayer, we may regard
116 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
it as an earnest pleading of David with God for deliverance from
the three great evils of sin, 1. from its guilt (A.), 2. from its defile-
ment (B), and 3. from its miserable bondage (C), and for the
bestowal of the corresponding blessings, 1. justification, 2. sancti-
fication, 3. the free spirit of adoption — on the ground of three
distinct pleas :
In Strophe I. Because he now makes full and unreserved con-
fession of sin ; and thus has fulfilled the previous condition neces-
sary on the part of the sinner.
In Strophe II. Because God alone can bestow the blessings
prayed for.
In Strophe III. Because His granting these blessings will call
forth the only return which man can ofler acceptable to God, viz.
" the sacrifice of praise" and of a heart truly grateful for His
blessings, and anxiously desirous to proclaim and extend His
mercies to others.
PSALM LI.
Confession of sin — the previous requisite on the part of the sinner.
1. To the Chief Musician. — A Psalm of David.
2. When Nathan the Prophet went in to him,
As he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1. r A 3. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-
kindness ;
According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out
my transgressions.
-
2. B 4. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
I And cleanse me from rny sin.
3. a 5. FOR I ACKNOWLEDGE MY TRANSGRESSIONS :
b AND MY SIN IS EVER BEFORE ME.
4. (-06. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done the evil thing in thy sight :
That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest.
5.
b 7. Behold I was shapen in iniquity :
And in sin did my mother conceive me.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 117
Regeneration — the work of God's grace alone.
6. f A 8. Behold them delightest in truth in the inward parts ;
And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
17.
18.
19.
7. ! B 9. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean :
Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
c 10. Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness :
The bones which thou hast broken shall rejoice.
9. A 11. HIDE THY FACE FROM MY SINS,
AND BLOT OUT ALL MINE INIQUITIES.
10. B 12. Create in me a clean heart, O God ;
J And renew a right spirit within me.
1 1. 13. Cast me not away from thy presence ;
And take not thy holy Spirit from me.
12. C 14. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ;
And uphold me with thy free Spirit.
The acceptable return to God — on the part of the sinner.
13. r A 15. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ;
i And sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14. 16- Deliver me from blood (-defilement), O God,
Thou God of my salvation ;
And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15. C 17. O Lord, open thou my lips ;
And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16. 18. FOR THOU DELIGHTEST NOT IN SACRIFICE ; ELSE WOULD I
GIVE IT :
THOU HAST NO PLEASURE IN BURNT OFFERING.
^ 19. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit :
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
® 20. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion :
Thou shalt build the walls of Jerusalem.
© 21. Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,.
In burnt offering, and whole burnt offering :
Then shall bullocks go up on thine altar.
Let us now examine more minutely the structure and contents
of the Psalm.
118 SCUIPTURE PARALLELISM.
STROPHE I.
Each strophe, as we have already observed, consists of an equal
number of verses, seven. But to form the seven verses of the first
Strophe, the Title must count, as in the original, for two verses.
This is one of many proofs which serve to shew that the Titles
are all genuine, and formed originally an integral portion of the
Psalms. In- the present instance, both parts of the Title are most
significant. The inscription " To the Chief Musician" rendered
at once the Psalm and the confession public. No surer evidence
of the depth and sincerity of his penitence could have been
afforded than this public humiliation of a king of Israel, and open
acknowledgment before the whole world of his guilt and shame.
In the words which follow we have a similar acknowledgment
of the righteousness of the condemnation pronounced upon him
by Nathan — that God was " justified when he spake, and clear
when he judged." The sentiment expressed by the words in
ver. 2, is that where sin has found entrance, there God's judg-
ment quickly follows. But there is more than a mere connexion
of time implied by the word rendered in our version " after."
The word in the original ("*?'*: ca-asher) signifies " as, accord-
ing as— he had gone in to Bathsheba," " suggesting the ideas of
analogy, proportion, and retaliation." 1 David would mark and
humbly acknowledge the just retribution of God in the judgment
pronounced, so exactly proportioned to the offence. " Thou hast
killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword." " Now therefore the
sword shall never depart from thine house." " Thou hast taken
his wife to be thy wife." " Behold I will raise up evil against
thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine
eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy
wives in the sight of this sun." 2 Sam. xii. 9-11.
Thus we see that the double Title forms no unimportant part
of the Psalm ; and by its being counted as two verses, and com-
pleting the number seven in the first strophe, it renders the sym-
metry of the three strophes perfect, as far as regards the formal
arrangement by verses.
But, as we have already remarked, we often find in Parallelism
i Alexander On the Psalms.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 119
more than one arrangement running side by side with each other
without confusion or interference. The five verses which follow
of Strophe I. form a whole in themselves, consisting of the usual
three parts, with the mutual dependence and connexion of the
threefold division.
PETITIONS.
(" Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness :
A < According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my
t transgressions.
T> C Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
"^ And cleanse me from my sin.
GENERAL PLEAS — a FOR A, AND b FOR B.
a •< For I acknowledge my transgressions :
b -< And my sin is ever before me.
SPECIAL PLEAS — a FOR A, AND b FOR B.
/• Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
J And done the evil thing in thy sight ;
J That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
^ And be clear when thou judgest.
, (Behold, I was shapen in iniquity :
in sin did my mother conceive me.
In A and B we have two petitions, enforced respectively by the
general pleas a and b, which again are more fully developed in
what may be termed special pleas for each, a and b. The first
petition A is for deliverance from the guilt of sin (justification),
and the second B, from its defilement (sanctification).1
1 That the distinction here made between the two petitions is just, and that both do
not refer only to forgiveness of sin, as Dr Hengstenberg asserts in opposition to Stier,
will I trust be still more evident to the reader as he proceeds and observes the beauti-
ful order and progression of thought which are thus introduced into the Psalm, and the
parallelism of the verses marked B, B, B, IB. Dr Hengsteuberg maintains that puri-
fication of heart is only first mentioned in ver. 12-14. The comparison, however, of
the first expression in ver. 12, '• Create in me a clean heart, with the corresponding ex-
pressions in ver. 4, " cleanse me from my sin," and ver. 9, " Thou shalt purge me with
hyssop and I shall be clean," proves that all three refer to the same subject.
120 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Both petitions are then based upon what David feels to be the
indispensable pre-requisite on the part of the sinner, unqualified
confession of sin, which accordingly forms the central thought of
the first strophe. Each of its two lines refers evidently to one of
the preceding petitions :
" Blot out my transgressions " {A) : " For I acknowledge my transgres-
sions," (a).
" Cleanse me from my sin " (B) : " For my sin is ever before me." (b) :
and, as usual in the Gradational Parallelism, the second line
makes an advance upon the first. The penitent who would be
delivered from sin must not be satisfied with a mere passing con-
viction and acknowledgment of the guilt of his individual trans-
gression, but must keep ever before him the inherent loathsome-
ness and pollution of the source from which it sprung — the sin
that is in him.1
In the next two verses, we have two most profound views dis-
closed of the true nature of sin :
1st, (ver. 6) that all sin is in reality, and looking at it in its
truest light, sin against God. Even sin against our neighbour is a
violation of that relation which the sovereign Lord of all has con-
stituted between him and us, and is a rebellion against His ordi-
nance. Murder is a defacing of God's image ; adultery, a viola-
tion of God's holy law of marriage. " Your murmurings " was
the warning of Moses to the Israelites, when raising their voice
against him and Aaron for want of water, " Your murmurings
are not against us, but against the Lord." Ex. xvi. 8. It is
God's law that enjoins the duties of the Second Table, as well as
those of the First. Whatever we do, we are commanded to " do,
not as unto man, but unto God." All sin is thus a transgression
1 The argument of these three verses, or indeed of the first strophe, might he summed
up in the words of the Apostle John, 1 John i. 9.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful,
And righteous, [3/xa/s;]
To forgive us our sins,
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness : [«$;*/«;] -
that is. " He is faithful, to forgive us our sins : he is righteous, to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." See p. 34.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 121
of God's appointments, a rebellion of the creature against the
Creator : and in comparison with this, every other view of sin
dwindles so completely into nothing in David's eyes that he ex-
claims,
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done the evil thing in thy sight.
Various attempts have been made to escape from the obvious
meaning of the words that follow,
That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest,
which, in connexion with the previous words, "Against thee have I
sinned," &c. seem plainly to imply that David's sin had been over-
ruled by God, and rendered so heinous and glaring, for the pur-
pose of vindicating His righteousness beyond all cavil in the severe
sentence pronounced against it. Hengstenberg has ably shewn this
to be the only legitimate interpretation of the words, and to be
entirely in accordance with the teaching of Scripture in other
passages. " Sin," he observes, in its first rise and continued in-
dulgence in the heart, " belongs indeed to man. He can at any
moment by repentance release himself from its power. But if he
neglects to use the aids of God's Spirit offered him for this pur-
pose, the forms in which it may manifest itself remain no longer
in his power, but are subject to God's disposal, who determines
them as it pleases Him, as it suits the plan of His government of
the world, for His own glory, and at the same time also, so long
as the sinner is not absolutely hopeless, so as to subserve his sal-
vation. He places the sinner in situations in which he shall be
assaulted by this or that particular temptation ; He directs the
thoughts to some determinate object of sinful desire, and secures
that they continue wedded to this, and do not start off to some
other object. It is from the consideration of sin in this point of
view that David proceeds, when in 1 Sam. xxvi. 19 he derives the
hatred of Saul from the Lord's having ' stirred him up against
him,' when in 2 Sam. xvi. 10, &c. he says of Shimei, ' The Lord
hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Where-
fore hast thou done so ? Let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden
122 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
him.' Thus also in another passage we find asserted a secret in-
fluence over David's mind, as directing the sinful inclination
already present in his heart to a determinate object : compare
2 Sam. xxiv. 1, * And again the anger of the Lord was kindled
against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go,
number Israel and Judah/ * In the matter here referred to, such
a co-operation on the part of God is quite undeniable. That
David, through his own guilt filled with sinful lust, must see pre-
cisely Bathsheba, that she became pregnant, that Uriah did not
comply with the wishes of David, who that believes in a Provi-
dence generally can overlook such a co-operation in this combina-
tion of circumstances ? Pointing now to this co-operation of God,
David here says that he must commit so heinous a sin in order
that in the judgment which God pronounced upon him through
Nathan, His righteousness, purity and holiness might be mani-
fest, and thus His name be glorified and His honour advanced."
" Besides the exposition now given is that followed by the Apostle
in Rom. iii. 4, whose commonly misunderstood words are thus first
placed in their true light. Paul must have taken the passage in
a sense, which appeared to yield the result that human un-
righteousness was not punishable, since it ' commended/ or ren-
dered conspicuous, ' the righteousness of God,' so that one must
sin for the honour of God — allegations, which in the following
context he partly refutes (ver. 6), partly rejects with abhorrence,
The only point in which Hengstenberg's interpretation seems
defective is, that, to render the connexion of the first and last
clauses of ver. 6 complete, we feel a want of some expression to
mark the lieinousness of the guilt incurred. David does not mean
to say simply " I have sinned — that thou migbtest be justified,"
but as Hengstenberg himself explains it, " he must commit so
heinous a sin " — the form which his previously cherished lust was
to assume must be so aggravated, that God might not only be,
but appear to be just in punishing it. And such accordingly is
the import of the expression which he has employed, " I have
1 From a comparison of the parallel passage in 1 Chron. xxi. 1, we learn that the
*ery wrath of Satan himself is overruled to work out God's purposes.
2 Hengstenberg, Commentary on Ps. li.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 123
done the evil thing in thy sight/'1 This phrase (to " do the evil
thing in the sight of the Lord") occurs more than 60 times in the
Old Testament, and I believe it will be found I am correct in
affirming, signifies in every instance, to be guilty of apostasy and
rebellion against God. The first occasion on which it is used is
by Moses in Numb, xxxii. 13, to designate the consummating act
of Israel's rebellion against the Lord, which brought down His
final sentence of utter rejection against them. " And the Lord's
anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in
the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done
the evil thing in the sight of the Lord was consumed." (Compare
Deut. ix. 18). Thenceforth it became the standing expression to
designate defection from the living God. Thus in the next in-
stance in which it occurs (Deut. iv. 25), it is employed to denote
idolatry. " When thou shalt beget children, and children's chil-
dren, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and ye shall
corrupt yourselves and make a graven image, or the likeness of
anything, and shall do the evil thing in the sight of the Lord tliy
God, to provoke him to anger." Thus also in chap. xvii. 2-5,
" If there be found among you man or woman that hath wrought
the wicked thing in the sight of the Lord thy God in transgres-
sing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods and wor-
shipped them — then shalt thou bring forth that man or that
woman, which have committed that wicked thing unto thy gates,
even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones,
till they die." The next and last passage in which the phrase
occurs in Moses' writings is in Deut. xxxi. 29, where he predicts
to the Israelites that after his death they would be guilty of com-
plete rebellion against the Lord (ver. 27), and would " utterly cor-
rupt themselves ; — and evil will befal you in the latter days : be-
cause ye will do the evil thing in the sight of the Lord to pro-
voke him to anger through the work of your hands."
The exact verification of this prediction in the subsequent his-
tory of the Israelites, and the anger of God, yet tempered with
mercy, at their frequent rebellion and idolatry, is the great sub-
i -rii'i'y ^•:*l>2 y"n (hara b'ene"cha aseethee). Not as our translators have rendered
" this evil thing," nor as Hengstenberg, Ewald, &c. " what is evil in the sight of the
Lord "—but " the or that evil thing," S~J^ ha ra.
124 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ject which the author of the Book of Judges proposed to himself
to illustrate. Accordingly this phrase forms the characteristic
expression of his history, the main central division of which is
subdivided into seven sections,1 each commencing with this phrase,
" And the children of Israel did the evil thing in the sight of
the Lord — and served Baalim : and they forsook the Lord God
of their fathers," &c. Compare Judges ii. 11, iii. 7, iii. 12, iv. 1,
vi. 1, x. 6, xiii. 1. The next passage in which it occurs is equally de-
cisive (1 Sam. xii. 17), where Samuel upbraiding the people for
their rebellion against the sovereignty of God, calls God himself
to bear witness to their guilt by sending thunder and rain, " that
ye may perceive that your wickedness is great, which ye have
done in the sight of the Lord in asking you a king"8 — a demand
which God himself had already characterized (1 Sam. viii. 7) :
" They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I
should not reign over them." The last passage which we shall
quote at length in proof of the alleged signification of this phrase
is the remonstrance of Samuel to Saul (1 Sam. xx. 19), " Where-
fore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly
upon the spoil, and didst the evil thing in the sight of the Lord f
In what this " evil thing in the sight of the Lord" consisted,
Samuel's subsequent words leave in no doubt :
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry :
Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,
He hath also rejected thee from being king.
1 SAMUEL xv. 23.
Lastly, it is the established expression employed in the Books of
Kings and Chronicles in speaking of the idolatries of the kings
of Israel and Judah (1 Kings xi. 6, xiv. 22, xv. 26, 34, &c.)
This invariable usage, surely, fully authorizes us to attach the
same meaning to the phrase when employed by Nathan in the
1 See Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch xum alien Testament. Das Buck der
fiichler von Ernst Bertheau, p. xxv.
2 The word here employed is =r.r?? ra-ath-chem, " your wickedness." This is
the only instance in Scripture in which the article is wanting, but its place is supplied
by the pronominal suffix. In every other case the expression is y~^ ha ra, " the evil
thing."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 125
rebuke which the Lord commissioned him to address to David
(2 Sam. xii. 9) : " Wherefore hast thou despised the command-
ment of the Lord, to do the evil thing in his sight?" and in
David's application of the terms to his own conduct in the Psalm
before us : "I have done the evil thing in thy sight." The
heinous crimes of adultery, treachery, and murder of which he
had been guilty, have now opened his eyes, by the grace of God,
to the true source from which such fearful wickedness could alone
have proceeded, the previous falling away of a proud and lustful
heart from that God to whom he owed all his exaltation and
blessings. Ah ! yes, he now exclaims, my sin against my neigh-
bour was sin against thee. " Against thee, thee only, have I
sinned," and in righteous judgment, yet mercy, hast thou left me
so far to myself, that, like him whom thou didst reject before me,
I " have flown upon the forbidden spoil" of my neighbour's wife,
" and done the evil thing in thy sight, that thou mightest be
justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest" — in
counting so severe a sentence to be necessary to undo the effects
of my deplorable fall.
The acknowledgment contained in this 6th verse (a) that all
sin is truly against God, and is rebellion against His sovereign
authority, is the plea urged by David for granting his first peti-
tion (A. ver. 3) for pardon of sin ; since he alone can forgive a
trespass against whom the trespass has been committed.
2d. The next verse (b. ver. 7) contains, if possible, a still more
profound view of sin: that each individual sin is but an outcoming
and visible manifestation of that inward entire corruption, which
has defiled our whole nature. This forms David's plea for grant-
ing his second petition (B. ver. 4), that God would deliver him
from the pollution of sin. Attention is drawn to this connexion
by the parallelism of B. and b., which answer line to line :
" "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity" (B) : for, " Behold I was
shapen in iniquity" (6).
" And cleanse me from my sin" (B^ : for " in sin did my mother
conceive me" (i).
No power but God's, he urges, can " throughly wash" a tho-
roughly corrupted nature : for " who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean ? not one." If born, nay " conceived in sin," the
126 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
inference is irresistible, that " except a man be born again of the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
This important truth, thus shortly touched upon in the conclu-
sion of the first strophe, forms the principal subject of the suc-
ceeding
STROPHE II.,
the subject of which we have already stated to be, the necessity
of regeneration through God's grace and Spirit alone.
We had before occasion to remark that in the Scriptural
arrangements, the succeeding strophe or stanza often catches up
and repeats the concluding idea and sometimes even words of the
preceding. (See Psalm xxxvii. 14, compared with ver. 12, 13,
p. 110, and Psalm xxv. 19, compared with 18, p. 96). Such a
caichioord, indicative of the intimate connexion of the ideas, is
the word " Behold ! " repeated in ver. 8 from ver. 7.
Behold ! I was shapen in iniquity,
Nay in sin did my mother conceive me.
So thorough and inward is my corruption ! But
Behold ! 1 thou requires! truth in the inward parts !
Almighty power alone, 0 God, can affect such a change : —
And in the hidden part thou shall make me to know wisdom.
This central portion of the Psalm exhibits the three great bless-
ings which the sinner requires, viz. : (to state them in their nega-
tive form) deliverance from the threefold evils of sin ; 1. from its
guilt (A, A} ; 2dly, from its defilement (B, B) ; and 3dly, from
1 Behold ! is an expression of wonder designed to point attention to some new and
remarkable truth or event. In the first instance (ver. 7), it is used to introduce the
doctrine, so hard of digestion to the natural man, of original sin and the universal de-
pravity of human nature. The fearful complication of his guilt and the spiritual insen-
sibility which had so long benumbed his soul, till the voice of the Lord by Nathan
aroused it from its slumbers, revealed to David the depth of that inward corruption
which could alone explain his lamentable fall.
In the second case (ver. 8) " Behold ! " points to a truth as strange and which rea-
soning pride would deem irreconcilable with the former, that God should still require
of a creature declared to be thus utterly false and inwardly corrupted, " truth in the in-
ward parts."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 127
its miserable bondage (C, (T) ; or (to state them in their positive
form), 1. forgiveness of sin (justification) : 2. purity of heart (sanc-
tification) : 3. joy and peace in believing (the free spirit of adop-
tion)— twice repeated : the first three verses (A, B, C,) declaring
the necessity of God's bestowing these gifts from man's utter inabi-
lity to produce them in himself: followed up in the last four
verses (A, B, C,} by earnest prayer to God for their communica-
tion. Each petition A, B, C, corresponds to, and is founded on
the previous pleas A, B, C, respectively. This orderly connexion
is clearly pointed out in the original Hebrew by the distinction
so exactly observed between the tenses of the first three verses,
and those of the last four. In A, B, C, the tenses are all Futures,
" thou shalt make me to know," " thou shalt purge me," &c. In
A, B, C, on the contrary, they are all Imperatives, " Hide thy
face," " Create in me," &c.
The first three verses acknowledge the necessity of being in-
debted to God's free grace alone for deliverance from the three
evils of sin. And,
1. As to its guilt. Here a slight modification was called for.
Instead of saying that God alone can deliver from the guilt of
sin, which no one could doubt (since it is the prerogative of the
offended sovereign alone to forgive) David gives utterance to the
important truth that the sinner must be indebted to God even for
the preliminary condition necessary on his part for the pardon of
his sin, viz. conviction of his guilt, or as here expressed " truth"
to acknowledge sincerely and unreservedly his guilt, and " wis-
dom" clearly to discern, and avoid henceforth the ways of error.
Behold ! thou delightest in truth in the inward parts ;
And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
The prayer for pardon of guilt corresponding to this plea is A,
Hide thy face from my sins,
And blot out all mine iniquities.
2. In ver. 9 B, David pleads that God alone can deliver from
the defilement of sin.
Thou shalt pnrge me with hyssop, and [so] I shall be clean :
Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
128 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The corresponding petition in ver. 12, 13 (B) is,
Create in me a clean heart, O God ;
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence ;
And take not thy holy Spirit from me.
3. In ver. 10 (C), David pleads that God alone can deliver from
the miserable bondage of sin under which he had groaned, and
impart joy and gladness in believing :
Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness :
The bones which thou hast broken shall rejoice ;
and to this corresponds the petition in ver. 14 ((7) :
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ;
And uphold me with thy free Spirit,
that is, with " the Spirit of adoption," not of a slave, but of a
child, who obeys with the free and joyous spirit of delighted
obedience.
STROPHE III.
In the third strophe, David pleads with God to grant him the
three blessings prayed for, on the ground that the conferring of
them will lead to God's receiving the only return which the sin-
ner can make, the sacrifice of praise continually offered up from
a grateful heart magnifying and declaring his goodness to others.
This is a mark of the truly justified and regenerated man which
will never be wanting. He cannot rest in self. The experience
of the wondrous love of God to his own soul will expand his
heart towards others, and beget an ardent desire to glorify God's
salvation by inducing others to " taste and see that the Lord is
gracious." The same threefold division, and twice repeated,
obtains in this as in the second strophe.
1. Ver. 15 (A). His blessed experience of God's justifying
mercy will lead him to teach other sinners God's" ways of forgive-
ness, whereby they shall be induced to return and cast themselves
on his tender compassion. If delivered from the guilt of sin,
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 129
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ;
And sinners shall be converted unto thee.
2. Ver. 16 (B), He pleads that if God would deliver him from
the defilement of that blood, which like Abel's he heard " crying
from the ground" for vengeance unto God, and would not " cast
him away from his presence" (compare the corresponding petition
ver. 13 B, and Gen. iv. 14, 16,1) like Cain, but would prove his
" salvation" by " washing him throughly" (ver. 4 B.) in the
cleansing blood of atonement, " creating in him a clean heart and
renewing a right spirit within him," (J5,) then would his tongue
sing aloud of that righteousness3 of God's own creating, which he
had put upon him :
16. Deliver me from blood [-defilement], O God,
Thou God of my salvation ;
And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
3. Ver. 17 (C) He pleads that God would for His own praise
deliver him from th^t joyless state of slavish fear induced by sin,
which had sealed his lips :
17. O Lord, open thou my lips ;
And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Ver. 18. Such he feels will be the true offering unto the Lord,
not the mere material sacrifice, but that sacrifice with which the
Apostle to the Hebrews says " God is well pleased, the sacrifice of
praise offered to God continually, that is, the fruit of the lips giv-
ing thanks to his name," Heb. xiii. 15, 16 — the consecration of
the whole man as a living sacrifice unto the Lord, holy and accept-
able, and his leading thereby others to devote themselves as sacri-
fices to Him.
The last three verses, accordingly, develop more fully this cen-
tral idea by defining the nature of the spiritual sacrifices thus
required. To be either acceptable to God, or to benefit others, in
1 Gen. iv. 14, " Behold thou hast driven me out this day, — and/row thy face I shall
be hid." Ver. 16, " And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord."
2 Compare, He shall receive the blessing from the LORD,
Even righteousness from the God of his salvation. — PSALM xxiv. 5.
I
130 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
accordance with the threefold division which we have seen per-
vades this Psalm,
1 1. ($\) They must proceed from " a heart broken and contrite"
through a deep and humbling conviction of guilt, v. 19 (17).
2. (HO They must be " sacrifices of righteousness" pure from
the defilement of sin, leading others to offer " sacrifices of right-
eousness" (ver. 21). For this, however, David keenly feels his own
incompetency. " My sin is ever before me," marks the deep and
ever present sense of his guilt that was pressing on his mind when
he wrote the Psalm before us. So far as the first requisite of an
acceptable sacrifice was concerned, he might teach and benefit
others : but how dare he hope that he, who by his uncleanness and
unrighteousness had given such cause to the enemies of God to
blaspheme, and to the weak to be offended, could edify and build
up others, or lead them to glorify God by " sacrifices of righteous-
ness" ? In deep self-humiliation, therefore, he betakes himself in
prayer to the Source of all righteousness, entreating Him that He
would avert the evil which his sins were calculated to do to the
Church, and Himself carry on the good work:1
20. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion :
Thou shalt build2 the walls of Jerusalem,
which his sins, he felt, had tended so much to pull down.
21. Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness.
And 3 (©), These sacrifices would possess the third and last
characteristic essential to acceptable sacrifices, of being entire, un-
reserved, free-will offerings of the worshippers themselves unto
God. Not only would they be " burnt offerings" C^'"*, olah
literally " an ascension"), every earthly and selfish desire " being
consumed and going up in a flame to the Lord,"3 but "whole burnt
offering" (^^ calil, so called from "the entire consumption")*
1 To mark that this work must be God's exclusively, the resulting " sacrifices of
righteousness " to be offered, in which man is to have a share, are excluded from vcr.
20, and transferred to the beginning of ver. 21.
2 The Future in the Hebrew text, denoting, " Thou must — thou alone canst — build"
— as the Futures in ver. 8-1 0.
8 See the Typology of Scripture. By Rev. Patrick Fairbairn, vol. ii. p. 352.
« Ibid.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 131
a surrender and consecration of the whole man, spirit, soul, and
body, to the service of God, nay a spontaneous self-dedication
through the free Spirit of adoption :
Then shalt thou delight
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering :
Then shall bullocks go up on thine altar,
as
parallel
living, spontaneous sacrifices — an expression which finds its
rallel in Isaiah Ix. 7,
The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee ;
They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar.
The changes that have been made on the authorized version in
this Psalm are :
1. In ver. 2, " When Nathan the Prophet went in to him,
As he had gone in to Bathsheba,"
by which the Psalmist indicates the analogy between the enter-
ing of Nathan and the entering of David, and the retributive
justice whereby " the Lord God of recompenses requites into
men's bosoms their iniquities, causing them to eat the fruit of
their own way, and filling them with their own devices." (See
Jer. li. 56, Isa. Ixv. 6, and Prov. i. 31.)
2. In ver. 6, "And done tJie (or that) evil thing in thy sight."
3. In ver. 9, 10, the Imperatives " purge me," " wash me,"
" make me to hear," are changed into the Futures " thou shalt
purge me," &c., and in ver. 10, " The bones which thou hast
broken shall rejoice ;" by which the antithetical correspondence
between ver. 8-10, and ver. 11-14 is clearly shewn.
4. Uniformity is observed in rendering the same words V^
haphetz, " to delight," in ver. 8, 18, and 21, and n*7 ratzah, " to
take pleasure in," in ver. 18, and its derivative 'C*1 ratzon, " good
pleasure" (in ver. 20), in order to mark to the English reader the
designed allusions in the different verses in which they occur.
Behold ! thou delightest in truth in the inward parts. Ver. 8.
Thou delightest not in [outward] sacrifice : else would I give it ;
Thou takest no pleasure in burnt offering. Ver. ] 8.
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Ver. 20.
Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness. Ver. 21.
132 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
It is of the Lord's gift alone, if his worshippers have any thing
acceptable to offer unto Him.
5. In ver. 16, the literal translation of the Hebrew, as will be
seen by the marginal rendering, is " Deliver me from blood," that
is, as the paraDelism shews, not from the guilt of sin for which
the sinner fears to be condemned, but from its defilement, from
which he desires to be " washed and made clean."
6 In ver. 21, " Then shall bullocks go up on thine altar" — See
Hengstenberg, Ewald, &c.
It is worthy of remark by the student how frequently the recur-
rence of the same word will enable him to trace the parallelism
and discover the lines which correspond in meaning. Compare
" blot out" in ver. 3 and ver. 11, " wash me," " cleanse me," in
ver. 4, with " thou shalt wash me," " I shall be clean," in ver. 9 ;
" a clean heart," ver. 12, and "joy," ver. 10 and ver. 14.
According to the arrangement of the Psalm which has been
given, it will be observed that if we take the central verse of each
strophe, we have in brief an epitome of the whole Psalm : Con-
fession of sin being signified to be the necessary preparative on
the part of the penitent, in the central verse of Strophe I. (ver. 5.) .
For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And ruy sin is evet before me :
forgiveness, as the primary blessing sought from God, in Strophe
II.
Hide thy face from my sins,
And blot out all mine iniquities,
and spiritual, not material sacrifices, as the acceptable return to
God from the justified sinner in Strophe III.
For thou delightcst not in sacrifice : else would I give it :
Thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering.
It may, however, be objected to the arrangement given of the
seven verses of Strophe II. that ver. 11 does not possess that in-
termediate character between the first three and the last three
verses, which we have stated to be a very common characteristic
of the fourth member of a septenary series, and that there is a
want of coincidence between the diArision by verses, and that indi-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 133
cated by the letters, A, B, c ; A, JB, C. The deviation here from
the usual order may be for the purpose of giving the greater pro-
minence to the great fundamental blessing of justification (as
involving the other two blessings B and (7) by the central posi-
tion which it is made to occupy, not only in the second strophe,
but in the whole Psalm, the llth verse forming the middle with
ten on either side. At the same time its due importance is pre-
served to the no less essential blessing of inward purification of
heart, by its being dwelt upon in two verses (12 and 13).
Should, however, the explanation now offered not be deemed
satisfactory, the reader must bear in mind, that the ternary
division of the SEVEN is not the only one of which it is sus-
ceptible. The other arrangements of the Psalm will in no way
be affected, if it should be considered preferable to adopt in
Strophe II. the binary division of the seven into three and/owr,1
which is equally common, and which indeed is generally found
in combination with the ternary division into 3 — 1 — 3, as the
central member is usually more intimately connected with one
of the threes, than with the other. Thus in Strophe III. the
18th verse has a closer correspondence with the last three verses
(19-21), since all relate to sacrifice, than with the preceding
three (15-17).
A clear instance of the binary division into three and four, is
found in the Epistles to the seven churches in the Revelation.
" The closing part of all the epistles exhibits a remarkable uni-
formity, which still is mingled with variety. Each close exhibits
the admonition, ' He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches/ In connexion with this the
words, ' He (' him 'or 'to him ') that overcometh ' appear, and
to each person thus characterized, promises are made. In the
first three epistles, the monition, ' He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ' precedes the pro-
mises connected with the words ' He that overcometh,' &c., while
in the last four of the epistles, ' He that hath an ear,' &c. follows
such promises, and stands at the very close of the epistles. There
is doubtless a designed and significant division into classes of
three and four." 3 • :.
1 The reason of this division and the symbolical meaning of the numbers will be
considered afterwards.
2 Moses Stuart's Commentary on the Apocalypse, pp. 462, 463. Edin. edit.
134 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The first septenary series of parables delivered by our Lord
Matt. xiii. are on the contrary divided into four and three, the
first four parables being spoken publicly to the people, or world
in general, while the last three were addressed to the inner circle
of his disciples, and in private.
Four Parables addressed to the People.
1. Sower. Open. Seed, as regarded by itself.
2. Tares. Hidden. Seed, as mixed with a
foreign element.
3. Mustard Seed. Open. Gospel, as regarded by itself.
4. Leaven. Hidden. Gospel, as mixed with a
foreign element.
Three Parables addressed to the Disciples.
1. Treasure.
2. Pearl.
3. Net.
Of the other division of the SEVEN, the ternary, I subjoin two
striking examples, as I am aware how sceptical most readers,
whose attention has for the first time been turned to the numeri-
cal arrangements of Scripture, will be of the reali ty of their exist-
ence.
The Psalms are very distinctly divided into seven parts or
Books, as will be seen from the following tabular arrangement.
Book I. comprehends
Psalms i. to xxr. Its conclusion is marked by the doxology,
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Book II. comprehends
Psalms XLII. to LXXII. It concludes with the doxology,
Blessed be the LORD God,
The God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things.
And blessed be his glorious name for ever :
And let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
Book III. comprehends
Psalms LXXIII. to LXXXIX. It concludes with the doxology,
Blessed be the LORD for evermore.
Amen and Amen.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 135
Book IV. comprehends
Psalm xc. to cvi. This Book begins with the Psalm of Moses, and
concludes with the doxology,
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting :
And let all the people say, Amen.
Praise ye the LORD (Hallelujah).
Book V. comprehends
Psalms cvn. to cxvii.
Psalm cvii. begins with
O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good :
For his mercy eudureth for ever.
Psalm cxvii. begins with
O praise the Lord and ends with
Praise ye the LORD CHallelujah).
Book VI. comprehends
Psalms cxvm. to cxxxv.
Psalm cxviii. begins with
O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good :
For his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm cxxxv. begins and ends with
Praise ye the LORD (Hallelujah).
Book VII. comprehends
Psalms cxxxvi. to CL.
Psalm cxxxvi. begins with
O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good :
For his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm cl. begins and ends with
Praise ye the LORD (Hallelujah).
The first three books are grouped together by ending each with
a doxology, in which the words " Blessed be the LORD — for ever
— Amen and Amen " occur in each.
The last three Books begin each with
O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good :
For his mercy endureth for ever,
and end with Praise ye the LORD (or Hallelujah).1
1 This Hallelujah at the end of the Psalms, though occurring in other Psalms than
the above, still distinctly marks the division of the last three Books, since in the Cen-
136
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The central Book of the seven combines the characteristics of
both, as it ends with the doxology of the first, and the Hallelujah
of the last. Its concluding Psalm too, Ps. cvi. strikes the key
note for all the succeeding melodies, since it begins with an invi-
tation to " praise the Lord," followed by the words with which
each of the three last Books commences :
O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good ;
For his mercy endureth for ever.1
The central Book of the last three has its limits also defined by
the Psalms which compose it. With the exception of its opening
and concluding Psalms, it consists wholly of the great Alpha-
betical Psalm the cxix., and the remarkable group of the
Psalms of Degrees. These last again are arranged with much
precision, the central Psalm cxxvii. being Solomon's, with seven
Psalms on either side of it : thus,
Psalm cxx.
Psalm cxxviii.
,, cxxi.
cxxix.
,, cxxii.
„ cxxiii.
,, cxxiv.
Psalm cxxvii.
of Solomon.
cxxx.
cxxxi.
cxxxii.
„ cxxv.
cxxxiii.
,, cxxvi.
cxxxiv.
The Book of Proverbs, in like manner, consists of seven parts or
sections, arranged as follows.
1 . • ( Chaps. i.-ix.
2. -? x.-
i
x.-xxii. 16.
xxii. 17-xxiv.
Introductory Part.
" The Proverbs of Solomon."
" The Words of the Wise."
. J xxv.-xxix.
0. ( xxx.
6. I xxxi. 1-9.
7. \ xxxi. 10-31
• All written
or collected
by Solomon.
of
'' Proverbs of Solomon which the men
Hezekiah king of Judah copied out."
" The Words of Agur."
" The Words of King Lemuel."
An. Alphabetical Poem. Description of a
virtuous wife.
tral Book, Psalms cxviii.-exxxv., it is found only in Ps. cxxxv., and it does not
occur again in the last Book for the first ten Psalms ; after which it both begins and
ends each of the remaining five Psalms.
1 See Burkii Gnomon Psalmorum, Pnefatio.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 137
But the finest example of this division of the seven, and the
one which first suggested to the author the intermediate character
of the fourth number of a septenary series, is the group of Seven
Beatitudes in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The
examination of these however we shall reserve till we come to
examine the whole of this most perfect composition.
SECTION XIII.
The instances already produced will perhaps have prepared the
reader to hear without surprise that the series of laws which
Moses received on Mount Sinai to deliver to the Israelites, as con-
tained in chapters xxi., xxii., and xxiii. of Exodus, is not a mere
detached set of isolated precepts, which it would be very difficult
for any memory to retain, but that along with the Ten Command-
ments, specially so called, and which commence the series, they
form seven groups (the covenant number, in reference to Exod.
xxiv. 7) consisting each of ten commandments, which severally have
their respective internal arrangements.1 The study of these is cal-
culated to throw much light on the mutual relation of the laws
to each other, and to develop the spirit of the whole, and was no
doubt intended, by the pleasing exercise which it afforded to the
reflective faculties, to excite a love to " meditate in God's law,"
and to discover if possible, by the clue thus afforded, the " won-
orous things " contained therein.
1 Bcrtheau, in his "Die, sieben Gruppen Mosaischer Gesetze" "the seven groups
of the Laws of Moses," has attempted to show that the seven groups, of ten com-
mandments each, referred to above, form together but the first complex group (com-
posed of seventy commandments) of seven similar complex groups, so that the whole
code would consist of 490 commandments, or seven times seventy.
138
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
PIETY.
I. — God is to be honoured and loved in himself.
I. I am the LORD thy God,
Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage :
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
H. f f Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness,
( Of any thing that is in heaven above,
-< Or that is in the earth beneath,
^Or that is in the water under the earth ;
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them ;
For I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
("Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
Unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me ;
•{ And shewing mercy
Unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my command-
ments.
HI. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain :
For the LORD will not hold him guiltless,
That taketh his name in vain. •
rv.
r 1 . f Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
2.1
3. 1
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work :
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God :
In it thou shalt not do any work, — Thou,
2 3
Nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
45
4 •{ •{ Nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant,
6
Nor thy cattle,
7
Nor thy stranger that is within thy gates :
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and
And rested the seventh day : [all that in them is ;
_ Wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day. and hallowed it.
II. — God is to be honoured in those to whom he has imparted honour.
V. Honour thy father and thy mother,
That thy days may be long in the land,
Which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
139
BROTHERLY LOVE.
III. — God is to be loved in those who are made in His image.
VI.
VII. 3Tccti:
VTH.
Thou shall not kill.
Thou shall not commit adultery.
Thou shall nol steal.
IX. 22Uorl) : Thou shall nol bear false witness againsl thy neighbour.
Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house :
f Thou shall nol covet thy neighbour's wife :
C J)OUCj!)t : " 1 N°r his man-servant, nor his maid-servant,
Nor his ox, nor his ass,
. Nor any thing thai is thy neighbour's.
140 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
THE DECALOGUE.
The most perfect of these arrangements, as we might be pre-
pared to expect, is the Decalogue or " the ten words " spoken by
the mouth of Jehovah himself, and, in token of their everlasting
obligation, engraven by His own finger upon stone ; the mutual
relation and significance of which, as unfolded by the Parallelism,
we shall now attempt briefly to trace.
Ten being the symbol of completeness, since it closes the
series of fundamental numbers, and contains in itself as it were
the germ of all numbers, the rest being but a repetition of the
first ten and a further development of them, the commandments
by being ten in number are thereby indicated to be a complete
whole,1 and, as they evidently relate to man's duty both to his
God and to his fellowmen, are intended to form a perfect sum-
mary of religious and moral duty.2
TWOFOLD DIVISION OF THE DECALOGUE.
The first and most simple division of the Decalogue is into two
parts. So far there can be no question, as we are distinctly in-
formed in the sacred record that there were " two tables of the
testimony," Exod. xxxii. 15. The first table, we have the autho-
rity of our Lord to say, prescribes our duty to God, and the second
our duty to our neighbour. The twofold division always marks
an antithetical relation, such as that of God and man, Positive
and Negative, Active and Passive, &c. By the relative order in
which the two tables are placed to each other in the Decalogue,
the second being secondary or subordinate to the first, we are
taught that love to man can only flow from love to God ; in other
words, that true morality can be based only on true piety. " The
first and great commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy
1 Hence the dedication of the tithe or tenth part to God, as presupposing the pre-
ceding nine (compare the Greek phrase ^ixccros auras himself the tenth, that is, he and
nine others,') was equivalent to the dedication of the whole, to God's service, and was
an humble acknowledgment of owing all to his bounty. Compare Bahr's Symbolik or
Fairbairn's Typology of Scripture.
2 The Decalogue, or first group of ton commandments, differs in this respect from
the other groups of ten commandments, which form indeed a complete code, but only
with reference to a special part of duty.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 141
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bour as thyself/' Mat. xxii. 37-39.
But with respect to the division of the commandments them-
selves, and the number that was in each table, there has existed a
considerable difference of opinion. The Masoretes, probably
from their knowledge of the significance attached to the nume-
rical arrangement in Scripture, and, following them, Augustine
and the Roman and Lutheran Churches, have assigned three com-
mandments to the first table and seven to the second, by uniting
the first and second commandments into one, and separating the
tenth commandment into two parts. The erroneousness of this
division has been often shewn. That the words " Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's house " form part of one and the same com-
mandment with those that follow, and cannot be disjoined from
them so as to form a distinct commandment by themselves, is
seen at once by reference to Deut. v. 21, where they are trans-
posed and placed after the words, " Neither shalt thou desire thy
neighbour's wife."1
The division proposed by Origen, and which has been most
generally adopted by Protestant divines, places four command-
ments in the first table, and six in the second. One objection to
this arrangement is that it destroys the significance of the num-
bers. By the division which we adopt, on the contrary, and
which was first, we believe, proposed by Hengstenberg, 2 the ten
commandments are equally divided between the two tables, the
significance of the numbers is preserved, and a most perfect sym-
metry of parts is found to pervade the whole Decalogue, which
1 If it be correct to argue from Exod. xx. that " Thou shalt not covet thy neigh-
bour's house " is a separate commandment, it follows equally from Deut. v. that
" Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife " is also a distinct commandment. We
should thus have two competing commandments for the honour of standing ninth in the
series.
We can scarce regard it otherwise than providential, that we thus possess in Scrip-
ture itself so incontestable a demonstration of the fallacy of that arrangement which
assigns a subordinate place to the second commandment as a mere appendix to the first,
and of which the Romish Church has availed itself to conceal from its adherents this
protest against idol worship by omitting the second commandment altogether in those
transcripts of the Ten Commandments which it places before the people.
* Authentic des Pentateuch. Vol. ii. p. 605.
142 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
any other division would destroy. That this is the true arrange-
ment is proved, we think, by the following considerations :
1. A presumption in its favour arises from its being the
arrangement adopted by the ancient Jews according to both
Josephus and Philo. Josephus' words are, " When he (Moses)
had said this, he shewed them the two tables, with the ten com-
mandments engraven upon them, five upon each table"*
2. It is the more natural arrangement. The numbers on each
table, we should expect, would exactly correspond. If the entire
number ten was significant, its parts would probably be significant
also. Now, as ten denotes a complete whole, five, as Bahr in his
Symbolik has shewn, being the broken ten, is the symbol of in-
completeness, and points to another half as its requisite comple-
ment. Our obedience, we are thus taught, to avail us in God's
sight, must be complete. In vain shall we plead our observance
of the first table, if we have neglected the more palpable com-
mandments of the second. " He that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not
seen ?" (1 John iv. 20).
3. The common division by which the fifth commandment is
united to the second table, instead of to the first, is inconsistent
with that which lies at the basis of the summary of the second
table, which is given by our Lord, " Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bour as thyself." None of the terms here employed apply to the
fifth commandment. The idea uniformly attached in Scripture
to the word translated " neighbour" is that of fellow, companion,
equal. But our parents are not our neighbours or equals, but our
superiors. Again, the sentiment with which we are ordered in
this commandment to regard them is not that of " love" but of
" honour." We are called upon not merely to love them " as
ourselves," that is, as our equals, but to " honour" them as our
superiors, set over us by the Lord.
4. Another argument for uniting the fifth commandment to
the first table in preference to the second, but which will have its
due weight only with those who have been accustomed to observe
how frequently the true arrangement is indicated in Scripture by
the recurrence of the same or similar expressions in those passages
1 Joseph. Antiq. B. iii. ch. 5, sect. 8.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 143
which are meant to be connected, is that the words, " the LORD
thy God," while they are found in none of the commandments of
the second table, occur in the fifth commandment as in all the
previous four of the first table, denoting that it, like them, has a
special reference to " the LORD our God."
5. A fifth argument arises from the beautiful threefold sym-
metry which, as we shall see, is introduced by this division, into
both tables, and which by the common division would be wholly
destroyed.
By including then our parents in the same table which lays
down the duties which we owe to himself, God teaches children
to consider their parents as standing in a very intimate relation
to him, as his representatives on earth, for whom he demands
a portion of that honour which is due to himself.1 A peculiar
sanctity is thus stamped upon the parental relation, God hereby,
as it were, appropriating it to himself: and hence the endearing
title in which above all others he delights, and by which he would
have us in the true spirit of filial reverence and affection to ad-
dress him, is " Our Father, who art in heaven."
Honour belongs not to man as such before his fellows, but is
derived alone from his relation to God. The doctrine of Scrip-
ture is that " there is no power, but of God : the powers that be
are ordained of God. Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth
the ordinance of God." (Eom. xiii. 1, 2). Accordingly we find
the very name of God applied to those placed in stations of ho-
nour and authority : e. g. to judges, as in Psalm Ixxxii. 6. " I
have said, ye are gods." (Exod. xxi. 6). " Then his master shall
bring him unto the judges." (Heb. the gods). Compare Exod.
xxii. 8, 9 : and to Moses, as having a special commission and
authority delegated to him by God. (Exod. vii. 1). " See, I have
made thee a god to Pharaoh." If God thus communicates his
name to those who are entrusted with authority over their equals,
need we be surprised that parents, to whom children under God
owe their being, and in whom the creative, life-giving power of
God is first manifested to them, should by the place assigned to
1 " God intends us to learn, how we ought to feel towards Him, by feeling first so to-
wards our parents : they are a child's first appointed objects ofjaith, and hope, and love"
[and therefore stand, as it were, in the place of God to him.J
Dr Arnold's School Strmons. Serm. I. p. 5.
144 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
them in his Law be hallowed in the eyes of children as his repre-
sentatives on earth, and that they should be taught to regard
them with that reverence which is due to God, and to give obe-
dience unto them as unto the Lord ? Compare Eph. vi. 7.1
According to this division, the first table prescribes the duties
of Piety, the second those of Brotherly Love : Piety including, in
accordance with the universal idea among the ancients, both
Jews and Gentiles (and this association of ideas forms an addi-
tional argument for the correctness of the present arrangement),
both piety to God and piety to parents, or, as this last is usually
called, filial piety. In this sense we find the word employed by
St Paul in 1 Tim. v. 4, " But if any widow have children, or ne-
phews, let them learn first to shew piety (svae&Tv) at home, and to
requite their parents."
THREEFOLD DIVISION OF THE DECALOGUE.
Still we cannot rest in the conclusion that a division which has
so generally prevailed in the Christian world, and which is so
natural as that of "duty to God" and " duty to man" is wholly
without foundation. Besides it may be urged with much force
that the fifth commandment, if for the reasons stated it ought to
be joined to the first table rather than to the second, is still, in
another point of view, as widely separable in idea from the four
first commandments, and has an obvious affinity with the second
table. The justness of this reasoning will be found recognised in
the threefold division of the Decalogue, to which we would next
entreat the reader's attention. Nor let it be objected that these
two divisions are incompatible and mutually destructive of each
other. The study of Parallelism reveals many such diverse divi-
sions in Scripture, each intended to present another side of the
truth, and to exhibit it in some new light. This is but another in-
stance of that wonderful "manifoldness" of Scripture (the " many-
hued wisdom," ToXvjro/x/Ao? <fo<pia, as St Paul, Eph. iii. 10, styles it,
of God's word), which like the diamond, if we would ftilly appre-
1 This division has been adopted also by Professor Fairbairn in his able work on the
Typology of Scripture, vol. ii. p. 97-99, and by Mr Worsley in his Province of the
Intellect in Religion, Book I. p. 143.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 145
ciate its brilliancy, must be viewed on different sides, and with
each new face discovers ever fresh beauties to the admiring eye.
In Scripture every perfect whole is divided into Three, the
second or middle term of which forms the connecting link between
the first and third. If then we separate the first four command-
ments by themselves, as prescribing our duty to God himself spe-
cially ; — and the last five, in like manner, as prescribing our duty
to our neighbour, the fifth commandment will be found to occupy
the central position in the Decalogue. Our earthly parents are
thus represented as standing midway between God and our neigh-
bour, and connecting us with both : teaching us, with .those feel-
ings first inspired by our relation to our earthly parents, to look
up to God, as our Father in heaven ; and back again to our
neighbour, as our brother on earth.
Thus that which forms the central thought, the very heart of
the Ten Commandments, is the requisition of obedience to their
injunctions in that spirit which a child exhibits to a beloved
parent, in the spirit of filial obedience — with the twofold feelings
of child-like fear, and child-like love, which are the earliest and
most natural emotions of the human heart.1
1 " Shall we fail to perceive in the Fifth Commandment an angel appointed to watch
over and to guard from desecration, from pollution even in their source, those realities
of the purely human affections, which are for us no unworthy instruments and organs
for the beholding of God? Is it not indeed through this very medium of the more
reverential feelings, the purer and holier affections of our family or domestic life, spe-
cially when under the light of Christ their genuine purification and hallowing have been
effected, that we are enabled most livingly to discern God ; even as it is by the very
Name which they delight in, that we are by Christ taught to call upon Him ! If we
be as yet so low in the scale of spiritual advancement, as to be incapable of honouring
and obeying and loving our earthly father, whom we have seen, how shall we be of
power to honour, to obey, and to love, our heavenly Father, whom we have not seen ?
Again, if we discern not with the eyes of a reverential tenderness, of a true and self-
denying affection, our earthly mother, who, through many and sore travail-pangs,
through the burdensome helplessness of infancy, through the trying waywardness of
childhood and of youth, has borne us ever in her bosom, in her arms, and in her
heart ; if from our youth up we have not cherished and delighted in this holiest of
our human feelings, this fairest germ and symbol of the divine within us ; if to our
parent in the helplessness or the poverty, in the unfriended or unhonoured estate
into which age may fall, we have said it is Corban, by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited ; how shall our mean and grovelling spirits be at the same time strong
and' pure and free, for their higher heavenward flight? How shall we with eagle-
eye discern and gaze on that Jerusalem which is above, and which is the mother of
K
146 SC1UPTUKE PARALLELISM.
The threefold division of the Decalogue we therefore hold with
Hengstenberg to be,
I. God is to be honoured and loved in himself. (I. — IV).
II. God is to be honoured in those to whom He has imparted
honour. (V).
III. God is to be loved in those who are made in His image.
(VI.-X).
But not only is the whole Decalogue thus divisible into three
parts, but we find that each of these is again divided and subdi-
vided into Three, till we descend to single lines, which themselves
are so arranged, as to form triplets. This is true even of those
which at first sight might appear altogether isolated, as the sepa-
rate Commandments VI. VII. and VIII., which, however, as we
shall afterwards see, form an intimately connected group.1 The
Decalogue accordingly consists of a series of triplets or Threes,
one within another, and bears impressed upon it the number of
Divine Signature, Three, seventeen several times, by which it is
designated as peculiarly emanating from God. The greatest sym-
metry is observable in the arrangement of the triplets. Thus id
the threefold division of the whole Decalogue, the first division
(I. — IV.) and the third (VI. — X.) consist each of a complex
group of triplets, while a simple triplet of three lines (V.) forms
the centre. In the principal division of the first table, the re-
verse is the case. The first (I.) and third (V.) are both simple
triplets, formed of single lines ; while a complex group (II. — IV.)
composes the centre. In the division into Thought, Word, and
Deed in both tables, the extreme terms are complex, while the
middle term is simple, &c.
The nicety of arrangement that will be found to pervade every
nsall?" — The Province of the Intellect in Religion, by Thomas Worsley, M. A.
Book I., pp- 141, 142. (The Christian Advocate's Publication for 1845.)
1 The only exception to this triplicity is the last four lines of the Second Command-
ment, which form alternate couplets instead of triplets, in order, by the antithetical
significance of the number Two, to fix attention on the two seemingly conflicting, yet
truly harmonising, attributes of God, Righteousness and Mercy.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 147
part is most remarkable. Not a commandment, not a line, scarce
a word could be altered without deranging the exquisite symme-
try of the whole, thus at once bearing testimony to its divine
authorship, and furnishing incontestable proof that we possess the
identical form of words as originally pronounced by the mouth of
Jehovah himself. The very lines and words of Scripture seem to
be like " the hairs of our heads, all numbered." Thus the whole
of the fourth commandment, as relating to the seventh day, forms
a seven (the number of the covenant) : and the central group of
the seven is itself a seven. The first three lines will be found to
answer to the last three, and form together six, while the central
group, as containing one idea, counts for one, and makes up the
number seven. The individuals enumerated in the central group,
" Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, &c." also amount exactly
to seven. That this is not accidental but designed, is proved by
the departure from strict parallelism in the third line of the in-
nermost triplet, which would have required, instead of one^terrn
" thy cattle," two terms to correspond with those in the two pre-
ceding bines,
" Nor thy sou, nor thy daughter,
Nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant."
Were it not for the desire to mark by the number seven that
the stamp of God's covenant1 was upon each Israelite and all that
was in his land, the words would have been
" Nor his ox, nor his ass,"
us in the tenth commandment ; where, in like manner, by a simi-
lar adjustment, the number seven is preserved, and for the same
purpose, of deterring from disobedience in any of the cases enu-
merated by the remembrance that all are under the sanction of
God's holy covenant
Yet though seven is the characteristic number of this fourth
commandment, the reader will observe that it still forms a series
of five triplets, one within the other :
1 Seven being the number of the covenant, as we shall explain more fully .after-
wards.
148 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
1. A, B, A : 2. d, e, f ; and 3. its corresponding triplet, as we
shall immediately see, e,f,d: 4. g, h, i : and 5. j, k, 1.
{d Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,
e Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work ;
f But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God :
Jg In it thou shalt not do any work, — Thou,
f j Nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
h < k Nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant,
(. 1 Nor thy cattle,
L i Nor thy stranger that is within thy gates :
e For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is,
f And rested the seventh day :
d Wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
The writer cannot tell how other minds may be affected by con-
templating the beautiful organism of this commandment, but he
will not easily forget the thrill of holy admiration and awe which
he felt when its discovery first flashed upon his mind. The
general arrangement of the Decalogue, and especially the perfect
order which, it will be afterwards shown, characterizes the
second table, had already been discovered, but the more compli-
cated arrangements of the first table had long baffled all
attempts at analysis, when one Sabbath afternoon, meditating on
the fourth commandment, the thought all at once struck him that
the commandment which sanctified the seventh day must bear
impressed upon it the sacred number seven. The key thus found,
every member fell immediately into its proper place ; the exqui-
site structure of the parts stood revealed ; and the certainty was
inspired that the same Divine hand which had thus with such
consummate skill adjusted the minuter portions would be found
to have moulded the entire Decalogue into one grand organic
whole.
Let us still more closely examine the structure of this fourth
commandment. The first three lines, which prescribe the duty
to be observed, correspond respectively to the last three lines,
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 149
which assign the reasons for the observance of each several pre-
cept : thus,
Precept. " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy ,•" (d)
Reason. u For the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (d)
Precept. "'Six days shalt thou labour — and do all thy work ;" (e)
Reason. " For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea —
and all that in them is." (e)
Precept. " But the seventh day is the Sabbath (rest) of the LORD thy
God ;« (f)
Reason. " For the LORD rested the seventh day. (f)
Again, we may remark that regarding the first three lines (A)
and the last three (A) as two members of a triplet, of which the
central group (B) forms the other, the two extremes agree in this
that they state the commandment (the first three (A) the precepts,
and the last three (A ) the reasons for their observance) in general
terms : the centre (B, " In it thou shalt not do any work — Thou,
nor thy son" &c.) specifies particulars.
This will be found a very common feature in the threefold divi-
sion, that the first and last terms have something in common, in
which they differ from the second or middle term. Thus in the
division of the central group, (g, h, i) the first line (g), " In it
thou shalt not do any work — Thou," and the last (i), " Nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates," are general statements, com-
prehending all the inhabitants of the land : the "enumeration of
the particulars included in " Thou" occupies the centre (h " Nor
thy son, nor thy daughter," &c.) So also in .the tenth command-
ment, the general expressions " thy neighbour's house," " any
thing that is thy neighbour's," are placed first and last : the par-
ticulars belonging to his house and possessions are thrown into
the middle.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house :
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife,
Nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant,
Nor his ox, nor his ass,
Nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
In this last instance, we are furnished by the parallelism, which
would be entirely destroyed by disjoining the first line of this
tenth commandment from the others, with an additional argu-
150 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ment against the Masoretic division, which makes of the first line
a distinct commandment by itself.
The transposition of the lines in Deut. v. 21, and the numer-
ous differences observable in Moses' recapitulation of the Deca-
logue, are no evidence, as German rationalists have asserted, of
different traditions, or of the great uncertainty of the text of
Scripture, nor do they form any valid objection to the parallel-
istic theory, which undoubtedly lays stress on the exact words of
Scripture, and the order in which they stand. The very reverse
of both suppositions is the truth. The Israelites were commanded
in the strictest manner to guard the integrity of the oracles which
were committed to them. " Ye shall not add unto the word which
I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it," Deut.
iv. 2 ; and to ensure their perfect preservation/ the injunction
was given, " These words, which I command thee this day, shall
be in thine heart : and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign
upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine
eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and
on thy gates." Deut. vi. 6-9. In consequence of this practice,
and the great aid which the parallelistic arrangement affords to
the memory, the very words of Scripture were so engraven upon
the minds of the Israelites, and known to them by rote (as we
say), that a departure from the usual order or form of words
served to arouse them to a more thoughtful consideration of the
particular point intended to be enforced by the text quoted, with-
out in the least disturbing their exact recollection of the very
terms of the original. Had commentators kept this in view, they
would not have found the difficulty they have in accounting for
the variations which occur especially in the quotations from the
Old Testament in the New, and they would have felt the neces-
sity of a far more profound investigation of the entire context
and bearing of the passages quoted, which a few words or a brief
allusion sufficed to recal to the original hearers.
This freedom of quotation by the sacred writers themselves in
handling the inspired word was intended apparently as a protest
against all superstitious cleaving to the mere letter, and thus los-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 151
ing the spirit. The parallelistic arrangement seems intended to
guard against the opposite error of those in the present day, who
in their dread of " BiUiolatry" slight the letter, and deny the
plenary inspiration of Scripture.
Having thus so far considered the great divisions, and the gene-
ral structure of the Decalogue, let us next examine the order and
connexion of the several commandments of each table.
TABLE I.
In the first 'commandment all the rest may be said to be impli-
citly contained, they being but the development of the one grand
principle, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me," or as it is
elsewhere expressed by Moses, " Hear, 0 Israel : The LORD our
God is one LORD," Deut. vi. 4. God is supremely and alone to
be adored : all others are to be honoured and loved only in Him ;
that is, with reference to the Threefold Division, " He who loveth
father or mother (V.), or brethren or sisters (VI.-X.), more than
me, is not worthy of me." Of none are we to make an idol : no
other being must rival Him in our affections.
This commandment, inculcating the unity of God, so far
stands alone and apart by itself, and is marked by the number
one, a symbol of the Deity in unity, though three, as we have
already mentioned, is peculiarly the Divine number in Scripture.
This symbolic number, however, immediately follows in the next
three commandments : which, still although three, yet in another
view, as we shall immediately see, are so united as to form one.
These three commandments are not entirely new and distinct
commandments from the first (and hence the plausibility of the
Romish view which confounds the second with the first command-
ment and would even expunge it as superfluous), but are the ex-
pansion and unfolding of the one grand principle enunciated in
it, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This is
branched out into three particulars : God is to be adored, I. in
thought, II. in word, and III. in deed; the three succeeding com-
mandments being placed as safeguards to the first, to ensure
more perfect obedience to its requisition. That our homage may
alone be rendered to the one only living and true God, we are
commanded,
152 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
1st, To guard our thoughts (commandment II.) lest we make
to ourselves any image of God, other than that which He has given
to us of himself. The point of this commandment is not, as has
been often represented, the prohibiting of every sort (A image of
God, but that we should presume to make to ourselves any image of
Him, whether in its grosser and more outward form of a "graven
image" made under pretence of aiding our conceptions of the in-
visible God, or in the more subtle and dangerous imaginations of
men's devising in later days As Dr Owen has forcibly expressed
it, " It was a witty and true sense that one gave of the second
commandment, ' Non imago, non simulacrum prohibetur, sed Non
fades tibi;' — it is a making to ourselves, an inventing, a finding
out ways of worship, or means of honouring God, not by him ap-
pointed, that is so severely forbidden." If man at first was made
" in the image of God ;" if to " renew us" after " the image of Him
that created us" be the great object of all the remedial dispensa-
tions of revealed religion ; it cannot be the object of the prohibi-
tion that we should have no image of God : for without such an
image, adoringly to contemplate, and progressively to imitate,
how can we ever " be changed into the same image from glory to
glory ?" To exhibit to man a true image of His glorious perfec-
tions and character, has ever been one of the grand objects of
those revelations which God has given of Himself in His Word
— in His various manifestations of Himself to the patriarchs —
in the glory that appeared in the pillar of cloud and fire to the
Israelites, or that filled at times the tabernacle and temple — until
at length He manifested Himself in all the fulness of His glory-
in Him who was "the express image of His person." It is of any
rival God of our own imagining — who will ever be different from
the true God, for we need our conceptions of Him always to be
corrected and enlarged by resorting to His own teaching — that
the Lord declares Himself most jealous : and in the twofold de-
scription of His character which He immediately subjoins, as the
fearful avenger of all iniquity (" visiting the iniquity," &c.) while
at the same time He is overflowing in mercy (" and shewing
mercy unto thousands," &c.), He guards against erroneous concep-
tions of Himself in those two attributes especially, in which men
have ever been apt to run into the one extreme or the other. To
bring into full relief these two apparently contradictory, yet truly
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 153
harmonising attributes (justice and mercy) recourse is had, as we
have already remarked, to the twofold division of lines, the only
deviation if we except the division into two tables, from the tri-
plicity which prevails so remarkably throughout the rest of the
Decalogue.
1st, Then, we must learn to know, and think of God, as He
truly is, taking that image alone of Him which He has revealed
of Himself (II).
2dly, We must speak of God aright (which includes our feeling
towards Him aright, since " out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh"), giving all reverence to His revealed name.
(III.)
3dly, We must serve Him aright, six days by doing the duties
of our station, and on the seventh by resting from our secular
work, that we may devote ourselves undistractedly to God's work
alone (IV.). The fourth commandment has evident reference to
work or deed. All that we do, or forbear to do, must be done to
the glory of God. Tt is the commandment of work, and no work,
or rest : yet not an indolent rest from all activity — for man is an
essentially active being, and the spirits of the j ust made perfect
" rest not day and night ;" — but a cessation from all earthly work,
from all that vexing " travail which man has under the sun, and
in which there is no profit," that he may engage in that nobler
service and those blessed activities which are true rest to the
wearied soul, and which will prepare and fit it for the delightful
employments of the heavenly rest above.
In these three commandments we have the threefold division
so usual in Scripture into Thought, Word, and Deed ; and the
same division, we shall find, pervades the second table, with this
remarkable difference only, that their order is reversed, Deed,
Word, and Thought ; furnishing another striking instance of the
Epanodos, as we begin with Thought and end with Thought.
The Alpha and Omega of the commandment, the first point and
the last to which we have to look in the observance of God's law,
is, we are thus admonished, the due regulation of our thoughts.
The import of the fifth commandment as deducible from the
place which it holds in the Decalogue has been already consi-
dered, pp. 143, 144.
154 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
TABLE II.
The Law of the Lord, as we have seen, by its very arrange-
ment, is represented as " exceeding broad," comprehending all
that we 1. think, 2. say, and 3. do. This division is still more
obvious in the lid. Table, than in the 1st.
That the ninth commandment refers to word, and the tenth to
thought, is at once apparent: and it needs but a little reflection to
perceive that the first three commandments form a group, enjoin-
ing us not to injure our neighbour in deed: either 1. in his
person (VI.), 2. in his family (VII.)? or 3. in his property
(VIII.). These three particulars comprehend the three grand
relations by which men are connected together in society : 1. as
Individuals, as man to man, 2. as members of a family, or 3.
as members of a community or nation. This is a classification
universally recognised in language. The three first command-
ments of the Second Table thus forbid us to injure our neigh-
bour either in his personal, domestic, or public relations. They
guard man's life in its three essential constituents of the indi-
vidual, family, and national life. Each succeeding commandment
forms part of a climax, rising above the preceding.
The Ninth commandment, in like manner, rises a step higher,
and is placed as a safeguard to the three preceding, designed to
enforce obedience to them. Should any violation of the three
fundamental laws that regulate society take place, the only means
of punishing the violation is an appeal to justice : the Ninth
commandment prescribes the condition indispensably necessary
for its due administration and fulfilment, Truth, especially in
witness-bearing.
Still this does "not go to the source of the evil. An addi-
tional and still higher safeguard was necessary. This the Tenth
commandment supplies, which lays the check upon the very
thoughts, " Thou shalt not covet (or set thy thoughts, desires,
upon, O-JK evi6vfj,ri<feis Sept.) thy neighbour's house," &c. Its very
terms prove that it refers to the preceding commandments and
forms the highest member of the climax. " Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's house," lest being tempted "thou kill,"
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 155
and take possession. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
wife," lest being tempted " thou commit adultery." " Thou
shalt not covet his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's," lest
being tempted " thou steal." There is thus a regular order
and advance in these commandments. First we are prohibited
from touching that which is nearest and dearest of all to our
neighbour, and without which all else were a blank, his life :
2dly, that which is next nearest and dearest, his wife: 3dly,
that which is next nearest and dearest, his property. These all
however relate to outward acts. We are not to put forth our
hands to injure our neighbour. But " our lips are our own," are
we not entitled to say ? " Who is lord over us ?" No : the Ninth
commandment forbids us to speak untruly of our neighbour.
Thou shalt not injure thy brother in his good name. Well, but
our thoughts at least are free ? No, pronounces the Tenth com-
mandment, " Thou shalt not covet (or set thy thought on) aught
that is thy neighbour's." The very thought of evil is sin.
But does there not exist, we would suggest for the reader's con-
sideration, a still more recondite parallelism between the First
and Second Tables ? On comparing the two, or rather the cor-
responding arrangements of each, Thought, Word, and Deed, we
can scarce help being struck with the similarity between the cen-
tral group of the IVth Commandment and the Xth, extending
even to identity of expression in the middle line, " Nor thy (his)
man-servant, nor thy (his) maid-servant," both too being marked
by the covenant-number Seven. Then the central commandment
of each arrangement prohibits all offence, the Hid. against the
name of God, the IXth against the good name of our neighbour :
and when we examine the remaining term in each, we find the
central thought of the lid. Commandment, " For I, the Lord
thy God, am a jealous God," corresponds remarkably with the
centre of the group VI.-VIII. of the Second Table, " Thou shalt
not commit adultery."
In short, does not the same relation apparently hold good
here, which we found to obtain throughout the single com-
mandments, that the Second Table is placed as a safeguard to
the First, to ensure the more perfect obedience to its demands ?
156 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
While as a whole, its language is, " He who loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love that God whom he hath not
seen ?" so in its details it would seem to admonish us, to resist the
first risings of each individual passion against him who was " made
in the image of God," lest, unless checked, they should break out
into direct transgression against God himself. Beware, is its
warning import, of sinning against your neighbour, lest the
same evil inclinations, strengthened by indulgence, lead you on
to the still more daring commission of a similar transgression
against God, so that (taking the Second Table in the inverse
order, and proceeding from the less offence to the greater) hav-
ing coveted for yourself what is your neighbour's (X.), you be
tempted to covet for your own purposes that which God has pe-
culiarly appropriated to himself and claimed as His own, " the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God" (IY.) — lest, having " borne false
witness against your neighbour" (IX.), you next " be found a
false witness against God" (III.) — lest, having stolen from your
brother (VIII.), you " rob God" (Mai. iii. 8), detracting from the
fulness of His perfections, diminishing from either His righteous-
ness or His mercy (last four lines of II.) — lest, having violated
family ties (VII.), you become guilty of spiritual adultery and
provoke God's jealousy by your unfaithfulness to your covenant-
engagements to Him, as the husband of the Church (centre of II.) :
and lastly lest, if you have marred the " image of God" (Gen.
ix. 6) in your fellow-man (VI.), you seek to mar the image which
God has given of himself in His word by an image which you
make to yourself of Him (first five lines of II.) — nay, be led to
say in your heart, " How doth God know ? and is there know-
ledge in the Most High ?" " God seeth not : God inquireth not :
there is no God,"1 — thus blotting God out from His universe.
1 This seems to be the true interpretation of Ps. x. 4 :
As for the wicked in the pride of his countenance, " He will iiot inquire :
There is no God," is the language of his devices.
Compare v. 11.
He hath said in his heart, " God hath forgotten ;
He hideth his face : he will never see it."
And Ps. xiv. 1.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 157
This last group (VI.-VIII.), in its application to our neigh-
bour, we found to form a connected whole guarding the' great
social relations in which man is called upon to act towards his
fellowmen. Taking them, as before, in their inverse order, and
proceeding from the less transgression to the greater, we shall
find, as applied to God, that they constitute a connected whole,
marking the three principal steps in the progress of sin against
the Majesty of the Most High. First we begin with stealing
from God something that is due to Him, detracting from His
honour, service, &c., robbing Him in some measure of the reverence
due to His name, and the allegiance we are bound to pay to Him.
Having proceeded thus far, the transition to the next step is
natural, withdrawing our love from Him and transferring it to
other objects, and thus committing spiritual adultery against
Him ; until at length dreading His righteous jealousy we would
banish Him altogether from our thoughts and from the world,
and, could our puny efforts effect it, would have it that there
should be no God.
How wonderfully was the truth of all this realized when God
appeared in the form of a man on earth ! Though convinced
in their hearts that Jesus was the Son of God and heir of all
things, the Jewish rulers coveted the inheritance for themselves,
and the evil thought soon ripened into the evil counsel and deed,
" This is the heir : come let us kill him and the inheritance shall
be ours." This was He who had been with their fathers in the
wilderness, who had led them out of Egypt, and taken them as a
people unto himself, and entered into a covenant with them at
Mount Sinai. Yet when " He came unto his own, his own re-
ceived him not." The Scribes and Pharisees began by coveting
the rule of God's heritage for themselves (X.) — suborned false
witnesses against him (IX.) — stole from him that which was his
(VIII.) — proved unfaithful to their covenant engagements entered
into with him at Sinai (VII.), more especially against that touching
mark of his condescension to their weakness, which should have
bound them by ties of everlasting gratitude to " hearken to his
words," when in accordance with their entreaty that they should
not again hear his voice of terror speaking to them from amidst
thunders and lightnings, he graciously promised to speak to
them hereafter in the human tones and sympathies of " a Prophet
158 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
raised up from among their brethren" — and when he thus appealed
to them in the form of a man, they rested not till they cruci-
fied and put to death the Lord of Glory ! (VI.)
Thus beautifully do the various parts of the Decalogue blend
into each other, and form together one harmonious whole, the
Second Table returning back again as it were into the First, so that
God gathers up and concentrates every relation in himself ! If
we were right in considering that God meant to stamp a peculiar
sanctity on the parental relation, by incorporating it into the
Table which more immediately relates to his own person, and
thus deigns to represent himself as " our Father in heaven" is
not the close connexion and parallel which appear to subsist
between the duties prescribed to our brother, and those which
relate to God, designed to consecrate in our eyes the fraternal
relation also, and thus to indicate the still more amazing conde-
scension, which He was about to exhibit, of becoming our Brother
on earth ?
SECTION XIV.
THE SEVEN BEATITUDES,
AND THE LORD'S PRAYER.
After surveying the exquisite symmetry and perfection of order
that characterize the Ten Commandments, which the voice of the
Lord himself pronounced out of the midst of the fire on Mount
Sinai, were we set to conjecture where in the New Testament we
should find a counterpart worthy in all respects to be placed
alongside this perfect composition, Christ's commentary on this
law, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Beatitudes and the Lord's
Prayer in particular, would, we believe, immediately suggest them-
selves to most reflecting minds. Nor shall we find ourselves dis-
appointed in this natural expectation. Our object in the present
section will be first, to bring out, so far as we can, by means of
the parallelistic theory, the deep significance and internal coher-
SCKIPTUHE PARALLELISM. 159
ence of parts, discoverable in each of these compositions, and to
conclude with tracing the intimate connexion which exists between
the two.
Before however proceeding to this, it will be necessary first to
consider more particularly than we have already done, the sym-
bolical signification of the number Seven, and its divisions, with
their significations.
Its leading signification seems to be that assigned by Bahr,
Hengstenberg, Moses Stuart,1 &c. of a covenant, or solemn union
and engagement entered into between God and his creatures.
The literal meaning of the common Hebrew verb *??? (nishba)
to swear, or bind one's self by a solemn engagement, is to become
be-sevened : and yaJ? "^ (B'er sheva) Beersheba may have the
double meaning either of the " well of the seven" in allusion to
the seven ewe-lambs which Abraham gave to Abimelech as " a
witness" of his right to a well which his servants had dug, or of
" the well of the oath," " because there they sware both of them
and made a covenant." (Gen. xxi. 28-31. See also xxvi. 28-33.)
This signification of Seven seems to be dependent upon its
binary division into Three and Four. Three, we have already
seen, is symbolical of the Godhead, or of whatever stands in im-
mediate connexion with, or in some degree reflects, the image of
God. Four was universally regarded by the ancients as the sym-
bolical representation of order and regularity, and especially of
the creation of God, of the World (or xoV/io?) in its orderly and
regular arrangement. " Four are the regions of the earth, viz.
east, west, north, and south. Into four parts is circling time
divided, morning, noon, evening, and midnight. Four are the
seasons, winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Four are the
marked variations of the lunar phases. The created universe,
according to the general opinion among the ancients, resolves
itself into four elements, fire, air, earth, and water."* The square
was considered by them as the most perfect figure and the sym-
bol of regularity, since it presents to the mind the idea of definite,
symmetrical arrangement, one side being placed over against the
1 In his Commentary on the Apocalypse, which contains the fullest account of the
symbolic use of the numbers of any book with which I am acquainted in the English
language.
2 Commentary on the Apocalypse, by Moses Stuart, p. 757, Edinb. Edition.
160 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
other as equal and parallel. We find the same train of ideas
prevalent among the Hebrews from the earliest times. When-
ever the whole earth or universe of God is meant to be included,
we hear of " the four corners of the earth," " the four ends,
and winds, of heaven." The river that went out of Eden was
parted into four streams that it might thence water the whole
earth. The world-powers that are to yield to Christ's empire are
represented by Daniel as " four great empires." The Israelites,
as ordered and regulated by God in the most perfect manner, are
drawn up in the wilderness in the figure of an exact square, three
tribes forming each side : and of the New Jerusalem in the Eeve-
lation it is said, " the city lieth four square," and each dimension
of it was a square, " the length and breadth and height of it being
equal." (Rev. xxi. 16.) The perfect creature of God is repre-
sented under the image of " four living creatures," each having
four faces, four wings, &c. (Ezek. i. 5, sqq.)
We are thus prepared to understand the significance attached
to these two numbers Three and Four in their combinations.
When simply united together by addition, they form Seven, the
covenant-number, denoting as we have said, a solemn union or
covenant entered into between God and his creatures. But
when the Three is made still more intimately to penetrate and
pervade the Four by multiplication, the result, Twelve, is the
number symbolical of the covenant-people, " in the midst of whom
the Lord walked and dwelt." The same idea was designed to be
conveyed by the form of encampment prescribed by divine ap-
pointment to the Israelites during their sojourn in the wilderness.
They formed a square, each side of which was composed of three
tribes j1 or, in other words, they formed a Four, or regularly
1 " The Tabernacle of the Israelites — the figure of the Universal Church — was quad-
rangular. Encamped on the east side were three tribes, the chief being that of Judah,
with the ensign of a Lion. On the west were three other tribes, the chief being Eph-
raim, with the ensign of an Ox. On the south were three other tribes, the chief being
Reuben, with the ensign of a Man. On the north were three other tribes, the chief
being Dan, with the ensign of an Eayle.
" Thus these four Emblems [the same as the four living creatures in Revel, iv.]
typify the quadriform unity and completeness of the whole Church looking to the four
cardinal points of heaven, and to be diffused in the four quarters of the earth."— ./Votes
to the Harmony of the Apocalypse, p. 99, in Part II. of " The Apocalypse," Greek
and English, by Chr. Wordsworth, D.D.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
161
ordered whole, but which received its distinctive meaning from
its interpenetration by the Three, the symbol of Deity, which on
whatever side one looked was that which first met the eye.
JCDAll.
ISSACHAR.
ZEBULON.
The Priests.
The LORD
in his
Tabernacle
in the
midst
of his
People.
M
w
5
•KIVHHJ3
Compare with this the account of Ezeldel's ideal city, chap,
xlviii., and of the New Jerusalem, Kevel. xxi. 10, &c., with its
twelve gates, three on each side, &c.
The binary division of the Seven into Four and Three, or Three
and Four, is that which alone seems hitherto to have been re-
marked : but there is another division perhaps still more usual in
Scripture, to which we would now beg to direct the reader's atten-
tion, the ternary, intended probably to mark the Divine character
of the subject so divided, as emanating more immediately from
God. Of this there are different forms according to the prominence
intended to be given to the unit or single term which is placed by
itself.
The first example which occurs in Scripture is in the division
of God's work of creation, in the opening of the Book of Genesis.
In order to give prominence to the Sabbath day, as the crown and
conclusion of God's great work, it is made to stand alone as the
third and last term of a ternary arrangement of the first seven
days, the arrangement being 3, 3, 1. The first three days and
162 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
the second three will be found to form two groups, corresponding,
term by term, each to the other. Thus on the first day, light was
created ; on the corresponding fourth day, the lights in the firma-
ment. On the second day, a separation was made between the
waters under the firmament, and the waters above the firmament ;
on the corresponding fifth day, we have the creation of fish for
the one and fowls for the other ; on the third day, the dry land
was formed with all its verdant clothing of " grass, herbs, and
trees ;" on the sixth, the terrestrial animals with man were
created. This division is expressly alluded to in chap. ii. 1,
" Thus the heavens and the earth were finished," viz. on the first
three days, " and all the host of them," viz. on the second three
days : the sun, moon, and stars forming the hosts of heaven, which
rule the day and night, and the seasons ; while the innumerable
creatures that people the earth and air and waters constitute in
like manner the hosts of these elements.1
It is of importance, however, to remark in confirmation of the
double arrangement, which we have asserted to be very prevalent
in Scripture, an instance of which we before found in the twofold
and threefold arrangement of the Decalogue, that this is not the
only septenary arrangement with its tripartite division, that exists
in this passage. There is another to which we are directed by the
recurrence of the expression, " and God saw that it was good,"
seven times repeated, " marking the successive steps or stages of
the divine work, at which the Creator pauses, that he may dwell
on each finished portion, as at last he dwells [with peculiar em-
phasis, " and, behold, it was very good" Gren. i. 31,] on the
finished whole, with a holy and benevolent complacency."3
The following scheme will present a distinct view of both
arrangements : —
1 1 am happy to find a confirmation of the correctness of this arrangement in the
Commentary of Otto von Gerlach. The same idea having occurred to two indepen-
dent inquirers may serve to shew that there is nothing so fanciful or far-fetched in the
view given, as I fear with regard to many of the arrangements noticed in this work,
will still appear to minds of a certain stamp.
8 See Contributions towards the Exposition of the Book of Genesis, by Robert S.
Candlish, D.D., to whom we are indebted for this beautiful arrangement.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
1G3
[1st DAY.
LIGHT created.
Pronounced
by God to
be
1. Good.
I
( The waters above
2d DAT. The FIRMAMENT.-; separated from the
(^ waters below.
• The EARTH, or Dry land separated from
3d DAT. ,
{
n. \
4th DAT
Ar'
the Sea.
The EARTH brings forth
C 1 . Sun, to rule the day.
6 LIGHT* in J 2' Moon> to ™le the
the firmament."! »&** .
\ 3. Stars, for signs, and
I seasons, &c.
5th DAY.
C FISH — for the waters below.
"S
(. FOWLS — for the firmament above.
6th DAY.
LIVING CEEATCRES j 0'
for the earth. '' ate; t, .
(_ 3. Creeping thing.
fl. The fish of the sea.
MAN— to have j 2. The fowl of the air.
dominion over j 3. The animals on
earth.
II. 7th DAY. The SABBATH.
2. Good.
3. Good.
4. Good.
5. Good.
6. Good.
{
(
71ood.'.CV MAN.
On the Production
of
I. LIGHT.
II. ORDER.
In the arrangement of
1. Waters above sepa-
1 rated from the waters
below —
And these last from the
dr land.
2. Three grand classes
of plants distributed
over the earth, each
" after his kind."
3. Heavenly bodies de«-
tined to regulate the
times, seasons, &c.
III. LIFE.
In the creation of
1. Fishes, and fowls,
2. Terrestrial lower
animals.
164 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Here it will be observed that the seven divisions, marked out
by the recurrence of the word " good," are not exactly coincident
with the division of the days. On the third and sixth days God
twice expresses his satisfaction in His work, — thus giving, to the
third term of each tertian series of days, that prominence and
terminating character which we so often find it to exhibit ;
while the work of the second day is destitute of any mark of
approbation — leading us to regard it, though complete in one
aspect, yet as incomplete in another. The distribution of the
waters begun on the second day is not perfected, till those below
are separated from the dry land, and " gathered together into
one place" on the third day.
The separate arrangement thus indicated has reference to the
supply of " the wants or defects of the chaotic earth. These were
three : — the want of order, of life, and of light. (It was ' without
form ' ; ' void,' empty, or destitute of life ; and l darkness was
upon the face of the deep/) Light is first provided : then order
is given that the earth may be fitted for the habitation of living
beings ; and these finally are placed in it. Now, the series of
operations by which this threefold object is accomplished, is
exactly marked by the intervals at which it is said, ' God saw
that it was good/ Thus, 1. On the introduction of LIGHT,
which is a simple act, the Creator's delight in it is expressed only
once. (Ver. 4.) 2. The ORDERING of the world is a more compli-
cated and elaborate process, so to speak, implying, first, the adjust-
ment of the waters — the separation of the cloudy vapour, consti-
tuting the material heavens above, from the waters on the earth's
surface below, by the air or elastic atmosphere, being interposed,
— as well as the separation on the earth's surface of the dry land
from the sea ; secondly, the arrangement of the dry land itself,
which is to be clothed with all manner of vegetation and stored
with all reproductive trees and plants ; and thirdly, the esta-
blishment of the right relation of the heavens and the heavenly
bodies to the earth, as the instruments of light to it, and the
rulers of its seasons. Accordingly, at each of these three stages
of this part of the work, — the reducing of the shapeless mass of
earth to ORDER,- — the language of Divine approbation is employed
(Ver. 10, 12, 18.) 3. The formation of LIFE also,r— of the living
beings for whose use the world is made, — admits of a similar
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 165
subdivision ; — -first, the fishes and the fowls are produced, —
secondly, the terrestrial beasts, — and thirdly, Man himself. And,
still, as the glorious work rises higher and higher, there is at each
step, the pause of congratulation, as over all there is the full con-
tentment of Infinite Wisdom ; ' rejoicing in the habitable parts
of the earth, his delights being with the sons of men.' Ver. 21,
25, 31, and Prov. viii. 31.)"1
Thus then, in the earliest record of the human race — we find
already recognised the symbolical significance of numbers, and two
distinct ternary divisions of the seven, each with its appropriate
meaning. The first arrangement by days is, as we have seen,
3, 3, 1 : the other is in the reverse order, 1, 3, 3. The design
of the first, in which two groups of Three are followed by a simple
unit, is evidently to symbolize, by the single One, standing by
itself at the close, the unbroken, undivided rest of the Sabbath
appointed us to enjoy after the works of the six days are finished.
In the second arrangement, by the One being placed first, a pre-
eminence and one-ness is ascribed to LIGHT, eminently suitable to
that most glorious of God's productions, which alone of all ma-
terial things He has chosen, from its brightness and purity, and
universal diffusion, as a fitting emblem of Himself: " God is light,"
1 John i. 5 ; nay, which has been selected to typify His last and
highest manifestation of Himself which He will make to His glo-
rified people : " The sun shall be no more thy light by day,
neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee : but
the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting LIGHT" (Isaiah Ix. 19) :
shining ever upon them through Him who is " the brightness of
His glory," as we learn from Kevel. xxi. 23 : " And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it : for the
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the LIGHT thereof."2
1 Dr Candlish's Contributions towards the Exposition of Genesis, vol. L pp. 24-26.
a Let it not be objected, that by subsequent discovery it has become known to us, that
light, which appears at first sight so simple, is yet resolvable into seven primitive
colours, or as now ascertained, into three, red, yellow, and blue, the other four being
but compounds of these three, and that therefore the apparent oneness of light is no
fitting emblem of that One glorious LIGHT, who is " the Father of lights." For by
subsequent revelation, that One God has been discovered in like manner to compre-
hend in one essence three distinct persons. May we not then here recognize another
of those beautiful analogies in nature, which Bishop Butler has so admirably traced,
designed to aid our faith in accepting the sublime mysteries of revelation, by leading
us up "from nature to nature's God v — from God's lower, to His higher manifestations?
166 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
But the most symmetrical and beautiful division of the seven
is into 3, 1, 3, in which the single central term partakes of an in-
termediate character between the first and last group of Three,
and forms the connecting link, or point of transition between
them. Even where the binary division of the Seven into Four
and Three, or into Three and Four prevails, this ternary division
has frequently a place also. This we shall find to be the case
both with the Beatitudes and with the Lord's Prayer : in the
former of which the binary division is into Four and Three — Four
negative virtues (expressive of the wants of man) and Three
positive (expressive of the fulness of God) ; while in the Lord's
Prayer the division is into Three and Four — Three petitions re-
lating to God, and Four to Man. Still both admit of a ternary
division, in which the fourth term of the seven forms the centre
or connecting link, in which the first three are summed up and
concentrated, and of which the last three form the expansion or
development.
THE SEVEN BEATITUDES,
OR SEVEN GRACES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.
1,
9.
Blessed are the poor in spirit :
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn :
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek :
For they shall inherit the earth.
4 , Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness :
For they shall be filled.
And as our faith in the mysterious union of the Divine and human natures in Christ is
facilitated, by our observing in ourselves the intimate union of two elements seemingly
incompatible, sonl and body, the material and immaterial, so as yet to form but one
person,— -is not the very fact, that light, the only material emblem of himself which
God has given in His word, is in one view Three and in another One, designed to faci-
litate our faith in the higher truth of a Trinity in Unity, and a Unity in Trinity ? *
* I find I have been anticipated in this idea by Mr Tupper in his Proverbial P/>ilo~
p. 138.
And the noonday light is a compound, the triune shadow of Jehovah."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Blessed are the merciful :
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart :
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers :
For they shall be called the children of God.
167
THE LORD'S PRAYER,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
{Thy Xame be hallowed,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done,
As in heaven, so on earth.
Give us this day our daily bread.
f And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
< And lead us not into temptation,
I. But deliver us from evil.
Such is the character of those pronounced blessed, — such the
prayer for Christian sanctification, — as uttered by Him who
" spake as never man spake." Well therefore may we expect a
pregnancy and depth of meaning in the words, such as no human
composition could exhibit. Let us therefore with devout minds
draw near and humbly meditate on their import, as determined
by their order and connection.
I. THE SEVEN BEATITUDES.
In the Beatitudes the whole round of Christian graces is com-
prehended, and in that exact order in which they must be deve-
loped and manifested in the true believer. They are seven in
number — the number of perfection and of the covenant — begin-
168 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ning with that consciousness of our own spiritual poverty which
is the first indispensable step in the Christian life, and ending
with the peace-making disposition, which is the highest ornament
of the followers of " the Prince of Peace" — with the believer's be-
ing filled with the peace of God himself, and rejoicing in it, as
his purest joy, to be privileged to diffuse that peace to others.
Most Christian writers reckon eight or nine Beatitudes, but
we hold with the primitive Church that there are properly but
seven. Our Lord's object in the beginning of the Sermon on the
Mount was to delineate the essential features, which constitute
the character, of the true members of that kingdom of heaven,
which he was come on earth to establish. These are contained
in the seven Beatitudes. The words which follow, " Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake" are not to be
classed with the preceding seven Beatitudes, because persecution
for righteousness' sake forms no indispensable part of the Chris-
tian character, but describes merely the treatment which those, in
whom the seven preceding graces have come to full maturity,
may generally expect to meet from an evil world.
This is not obscurely intimated even by the very form of the
parallelism : for while a new and distinctive promise is attached
to each of the seven Christian graces, this by some considered an
eighth Beatitude, returns back as it were upon the first, having
the same promise repeated, " For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven."
The first division of these seven which would occur to the
reflecting mind is into four and three ; the first four virtues be-
ing of a negative character, expressing the wants of man, while
the last three are more positive in their nature.
The first requisite in those who would be members of Christ's
kingdom is that they be " poor in spirit." But who are the
poor ? Not, unquestionably, those who are utterly destitute of
every spiritual grace, for then were every natural man blessed.
Not such as like the Laodiceans are " poor, and blind, and naked,"
and yet fancy themselves to be " rich, and increased with goods,
and having need of nothing :" but this being a disposition of mind
which is required of the Christian, the reference must be more to
his own judgment of his state, than to the estimate formed of it
by others. Thus we often speak, and with more propriety, in
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 169
reference to worldly poverty. One man, we say, may be poor
with a thousand a-year, while another would be rich if possessed
of only a hundred pounds. The rich man is he, who. whatever
be his income, has enough and to spare : the poor is he who has
( not enough to supply his wants, whether natural or acquired.
It depends therefore on the number and extent of the desires of
each individual and his means of satisfying these, whether we
ought to class him among the rich or the poor. The feeling of
wants awakened in the mind, and which he has no means of sup-
plying, is what properly constitutes a man a poor man. This is
the meaning of the word here, as applied to spiritual things.
"Blessed are" — those in whose minds God has awakened a sense
of their spiritual deficiencies — " the poor in spirit" that is, as we
shall afterwards shew, in their inward estimate of themselves.
This is the first step which leads to the attainment of "the king-
dom of heaven" and its " unspeakable riches."
"Blessed are they that mourn" — from a feeling of their spiri-
tual deficiencies and of the evils to which they are subjected
through sin. Not every kind of mourning is here pronounced
blessed, for there is a " sorrow of the world that worketh death/'
as well as a " godly sorrow that worketh repentance to saLvation
not to be repented of," 2 Cor. vii. 10. Mourning is blessed for
man, whenever it leads him to inquire why it is that an all-good
and compassionate heavenly Father afflicteth His creature, and
when it leads him in consequence to mourn over the sin, for the
sake and cure of which God has inflicted on him the suffering.
Outward mourning, therefore, as well as outward poverty,1 are
here included by our Lord, in as far only as the want of earthly
treasures, and earthly comforts, leads us to seek a more enduring
treasure, and a more abiding consolation.
" Blessed are the meek" — those who without murmuring en-
dure every evil, whether sent on them by the direct hand of God
or through the instrumentality of their fellow-men ; who " fret
not against the Lord," nor take vengeance into their own hands :
but who patiently endure every calamity and meekly suffer every
wrong, feeling that all come from God, either by His appoint-
1 " Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the king-
dom which he hath promised to them that love him ?" — James, ii. 5.
170 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ment or His permission, and are infinitely below the desert of
the sufferer, yet are sent by the chastening hand of a kind and
merciful Father, who afflicteth not willingly, but for their amend-
ment and good, His erring children.
" Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous-
ness." Blessed are they who, deeply sensible of their own spiritual
poverty, inwardly mourning over their deficiencies, and meekly
suffering the needful chastening, have awakened in their minds
an intense longing for the righteousness in which they feel them-
selves so defective — for such " shall be filled."
The four preceding stages of the Christian character are all
initiatory ; all express a feeling of want ; all are negative1 and
passive : while the three that follow are positive and active.
Four, in short, is the number of earth, Three of heaven. The
four first virtues belong to man and earth exclusively ; the last
three, having the Divine number stamped upon them, belong to
God, and are heavenly and divine, being characteristics of Him
who is the God of mercy, of purity, and of peace. When once
the longing after spiritual things, as expressed in the first four
Beatitudes, is begotten in the soul of the believer, the active and
divine graces are gradually developed — mercy, from experiencing
the mercy of God, — -purity, for, as God is pure, he that hath the
hope in him of seeing or enjoying God, must strive and pray to
become pure, even as He is pure — and thus, lastly, is he fitted
for receiving peace in his own soul, and having received it him-
1 Still, though primarily negative, they yet involve a positive element, which is
indicated in the appropriate blessing attached to each, and without which, indeed, they
must lead to unmitigated misery instead of hliss. What would avail to us the dis-
cernment of our spiritual poverty, but to plunge us in the deepest despair, without the
accompanying discernment of the infinite riches of God, and the possibility of the
treasures of " the kingdom of heaven " becoming ours? Or mourning, if without hope,
unless assuaged by the Christian consolation ? Or the meek endurance of evil, unless
a term were fixed, when the wicked shall cease from troubling and " the meek shall
inherit the earth " ? The ceaseless cravings of spiritual hunger and thirst were a tor-
ment unendurable, without the positive promise to the Christian of being at length
satisfied and " filled."
" Each of these tempers has, what may not unaptly be called its positive or heaven-
ly, as well as its negative or merely human element ; has an aspect towards God as
well as towards our own being ; and it is in this Godward aspect of each that we must
look for, and shall find, its true principle of life and growth." — Worsley's Province of
the Intellect in Religion ; Book i. p. 66.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 171
self, he will become a peace-maker, diffusing and imparting this
blessing to others.1
Peace, indeed, is eminently the highest gift of God. He is " the
God of Peace ;" He loveth peace, He maketh peace, He giveth
peace. His Son is " the Prince of Peace/' " Peace I leave with
you. my peace I give unto you," was his parting benediction to his
disciples : " not as the world giveth, give I unto you" — a wish on its
part, often false, and unavailing. No : Christ's peace is a peace
sure and abiding ; a peace which this " world can neither give nor
take away ;" a " peace of God which passeth all understanding,"
which whoever has received is at peace with God, at peace with
his own conscience, at peace with his fellowmen, at peace with all
the world : and his highest and most delightful employment is to
be the preacher and promoter of that peaceful and serene joy
which has been shed abroad over his own soul.
Before leaving the twofold arrangement of the Seven Beati-
tudes, we may remark that we might have been drawn to discern
the connexion of the four first by observing that the constructive
parallelism2 forms them into a group by themselves, thus, as is
frequently the case, inducing the student by the mere external
form to ponder and discover the higher and internal connexion.
They form an alternate constructive parallelism :
Blessed are the poor in spirit : For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the mourning :3 For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek : For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the hungering and thirst- For they shall be filled,
ing* after righteousness :
Here the poor and meek evidently answer to each other, while
the mourning correspond with the hungering and thirsting, the
first pair being adjectives, and the second participles : the first
qualities, settled habits and tempers of the soul, which, in a
modified form at least, shall abide for ever even in heaven ;' while
the present participles " mourning" and " hungering and thirst-
\ The first four Beatitudes express the conditions of receptivity — i. e. the qualifica-
tions necessary to fit man to receive of the fulness of God : the last three express the
actual reception.
2 See p. 13. S Maxaj/« «'/ *tii»virtt.
* Maxa'o<o/ a; wuva/yrlf *«• J<\£w»rlj.
fi As humility, and submissiveness — humility, acknowledging that all the riches of
glory are God's gift ; — sitbmissii-eness, that His will is in all things to be obeyed.
172 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ing" are the expression of feelings and desires which shall one
day be wholly superseded, as marked by the promises attached to
them.
The mourning ..... shall be comforted
The hungering and thirsting . . . shall be filled.
The promises just quoted also, it will be observed, correspond
in form,1 while they differ from those attached to the other pair
of Beatitudes ; which in like manner as evidently correspond. To
" the poor" and to " the meek" a possession is promised. To the
poor is promised the kingdom of heaven : to the meek, the inhe-
ritance of the earth : that is, " all things" shall be theirs, whe-
ther " things present or things to come."
Still, though the leading term in the fourth Beatitude " hunger-
ing and thirsting" gives it decidedly a negative character, and
connects it more immediately with the first three Beatitudes, on
farther reflection I was struck with another connexion which
appeared as intimate, between its last term and the three succeed-
ing Beatitudes. That righteousness, with which the believer was
promised to be filled, seemed connected with those other perfections
mercy, purity and peace, with which the Christian has to become
full even to overflowing in diffusing their blessed influence to
others around him. It seemed impossible to overlook the clear
allusion here made to the promise, as now about to be fulfilled,
of that great " salvation" predicted in the LXXXV Psalm, wherein,
when the Lord, in " forgiving their iniquity and covering all their
sins (ver. 2), should " speak peace unto his people and his saints"
(ver. 8), God's " righteousness and truth, mercy and peace," should
meet in mutual harmony and loving embrace on the pardoned
sinner, and should so universally and abundantly prevail as to
fill the earth with their " increase," — " righteousness looking down
from heaven, and truth springing out of the earth" (ver. 11).*
" Shall be comforted," " shall be filled,"' «ra£axA»i^»i(rsvra<, xaoTao-fxrerrttt : two
Futures Passive.
s Compare with this the very similar terms in which the same great promise is an-
nounced by the evangelical Prophet :
" Drop down ye heavens from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together."
* ISAIAH xlv. 8.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 173
The terms in the Psalm and in the Beatitudes differ in their
arrangement, only so far as the particular design of each required.
The object of the Psalm being to bring forward more the side of
grace, prominence is given to it by placing first and last " mercy"
and " peace."
Mercy, and )
rp , • > arc met together :
Righteousness, and ) .
TJ >- have kissed each other.
Peace )
In our Lord's discourse, the leading object of which was to
prove that he came " not to destroy but to fulfil the law," right-
eousness must have the first place, that the end may be peace :
thus,
Righteousness
Mercy
Purity ( = Truth)
Peace.
Thus then the fourth Beatitude appeared to be connected both
with the first three, and with the last three : partaking of the
negative character of the first three by its first term " hungering
and thirsting," and of the positive character of the last three, by
its last term " righteousness." Thus was I led to the discovery of
the intermediate character of the fourth term in a group of
Seven, as the connecting link between the first and last group of
three ; and consequently of that most perfect and symmetrical
division of the Seven which had long been rendered familiar to
the mind of a Jew by its being the form of the Golden Candle-
stick, the seven branches of which were divided into two groups
of three on either side, supported by a connecting central one in
the middle.
I shall continue to follow, as probably the most natural and
interesting to the reader, the order in which the significance of
the various parts of this exquisite portion of our Lord's discourse
dawned upon my own mind.
The fir^t and last Beatitudes were now divided into two groups,
174 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
of three each : did there exist any connexion between these ?
It needed but a slight inspection of them to see, that the correct-
ness of the division now arrived at was strongly confirmed, by the
striking correspondence between the two graces described in the
terminating member of each ternary series, " the meek," and " the
peace-makers ;" the latter of which differed from the former only,
as in every case of Gradational Parallelism, by rising above it, as
being a more matured and positive form of the same inward dis-
position. That their correspondence was designed by our Lord
seems placed beyond doubt, by comparison with the original pas-
sage from which both are evidently taken (Psalm xxxvii. 12) :
" But the meek shall inherit the earth :
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.'1''
Following the clue thus furnished, the whole of the last three
Beatitudes were found to form a gradational parallelism with the
first three, the negative graces of the first rising into the positive
graces of the last ; the wants of man being supplied by the ful-
ness
To the poor in spirit is imparted .... mercy ;
To those that are mourning for their sinfulness . purity;
To the meek ....... peace ;
and in such abundance are these blessings poured out upon them
by the Holy Spirit that they become full to overflowing with the
same blessings to others — " merciful" or full of mercy to others ;
"pure in heart" communicating and reflecting their purity to
others, as " the salt of the earth," as " the lights of the world ;"
full of God's peace themselves, they become " peace-makers"
anxious to bring all to taste and enjoy the same blessed peace
with themselves, " as ambassadors for Christ, praying all to be
reconciled to God."
But why classed by Threes, these graces ? was the next ques-
tion. Three, I had before observed from many instances in
" Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." (John i. 16.) = " New-
grace coming upon and superseding the former." — Alford's Greek Neiv Test.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 175
Scripture to form a perfect whole. But to what whole was refer-
ence here made ? The first three Beatitudes refer to man's
wants. It seemed reasonable therefore to conclude, that the
threefold division must have reference to the threefold nature of
man, who, according to St Paul, consists of spirit, of soul, and of
body. Two of these seemed referred to in the Beatitudes, the
spirit in the first, and the soul or heart in the sixth, which cor-
responds with the second. The natural inference therefore was
that the third and seventh must in some way be related to the
third part of our nature, the body.
But what are we to understand by these three in Scripture ?
Spirit and soul are frequently used indiscriminately to denote the
higher and immaterial part of our nature, in contradistinction to
our material or bodily part. But at other times we find them
discriminated, as in 1 Thess. v. 23 and Heb. iv. 12. If from the
first place being assigned to the spirit in the enumeration in
1 Thess. v. 23, we rightly conclude that by the spirit of man we
are to understand that higher and intellectual part of his nature,
by which he is enabled to attain to the knowledge of God and of
all his wonderful works, and to the comprehension of his own
nature and its relations to God and to the universe,! what office
are we to assign to the soul ? Taking the Concordance, we find
that the soul is said to " rejoice," Psalm Ixxi. 23, Jer. xxxii. 41 :
to " delight in," Isaiah xlii. 1 : to " be grieved," Job xxx. 25 : to
" be sore vexed," Psalm vi. 3 : to " be exceeding sorrowful," Matt,
xxvi. 38 : to "desire," Prov. xiii. 4, Isaiah xxvi. 9, 1 Sam. ii. 16 :
to " long," Psalm Ixxxiv. 2, cvii. 9 : to " loath," Prov. xxvii. 7 :
to " abhor," Lev. xxvi. 15 : to " hate," 2 Sam. v. 8, Isaiah i. 14 :
to "love," Song of Solomon i. 7, iii. 1, &c. It is evidently there-
fore considered as the seat of the emotions, desires, and affections.
In Scriptural usage it seems to differ from the heart only in
being used rather in a passive sense, as having these emotions
excited in it by external things, whereas the heart is used more
in an active sense, as prompting the individual to action. We
1 " But there is a spirit in man :
And the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." — JOB xix. 8.
" What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
him?"— 1 COB. ii. 11.
176 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
read of Daniel "purposing in his heart," Daniel i. 8 : of " the in-
tents of the heart," Jer. xxx. 24 : of the heart heing " set upon"
a thing, Job xxxiv. 14, Ex. vii. 23 : being "fxed" Psalm cxii. 7 :
of David's " having in his heart to build an house to the Lord,"
1 Chron. xxviii. 2 : of " standing steadfast in one's heart," 1 Cor.
vii. 37: "Out of the abundance of the heart [prompting] the
mouth speaketh," Matt. xii. 34.
The reference then, it soon became apparent, in " spirit, soul,
and body" is, as indeed we might a priori expect, in a revelation
which is designed especially for the poor and unlearned, to a dis-
tinction universally recognised by the common sense of mankind,
and known in familiar language as " head, and heart, and hand."
All the modes in which man can be employed are summed up in
these three — all we think, and/ee?, and do.
The Spirit, or Head — is the seat of the intellect, of the per-
ceptive and reasoning powers ; and by means of it we perceive,
know, think, judge, &c.
The Soul, or Heart — is the seat of the emotions, feelings, de-
sires, and affections ; and by means of it we feel, rejoice, mourn,
desire, love, hate, &c.
The Body, or Hand, — is the great instrument given us for
action,1 for executing the thoughts of our spirits and the desires
of our souls, by which alone we can operate on any of the mate-
rial things around us.2
1 That action is the leading idea in the third term of the ternary series of Beatitudes
will be at once apparent from, comparing the positive form which it assumes in the
Seventh Beatitude " peace-makers," (itpirt-rtiti). In the corresponding third term of
the negative series, " meekness" denotes the repression of the evil actings of the carnal
mind.
* The Body or Hand therefore is the outward seat of action, and corresponds to the
inward seat of action, the Will. " The immediate and proximate seat and source of
action is in the Will : in other words, the Will emphatically sustains the part of the
directing, controlling, and executive power of the mind. The Will, in particular, leads
to outward action." — Upham's Mental Philosophy, vol. iii. p. 44, Treatise on the Will.
It is most interesting to find that the classification obtained, by the examination of
this portion of Scripture, is in exact accordance with the latest results of philosophical
investigation, as stated in the work just quoted. Upham's Menial Philosophy bears a
high character in America, and is, I find, entirely based on this threefold classification.
He considers that all the phenomena of mind, and every thing involved in our mental
existence, may be referred to one or other of these three great heads, the Intellect, the
Sensibilities, and the Will; including under the Intellect all the perceptive and cogni-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 177
Tims, with reference to any work in which we are engaged,
The Head was given us to devise and direct.
The Heart „ to prompt.
The Hand „ to execute.
Our duties to God are comprehended in these three particulars :
We must know, love, and serve him — know him with our spirits.
or heads — love or feel aright to him with our hearts, or souls —
serve him with our bodies, or hands. But alas ! our understand-
ings have become darkened, our hearts estranged, and our ser-
vices alienated to other masters. Our whole nature has become
corrupted in its three parts ; and in order to be renewed and to
become true Christians, our Lord here intimates that we must
become thoroughly alive to this threefold depravation, so that
1st. With our Spirits or Heads, we must learn to be poor — we
must know and acknowledge our wants and entire spiritual desti-
tution.
2d. With our Souls or Hearts, we must feel our wants, and
mourn over them.
3d. With our Body or Hand, our active part, we must shew
tive states of the mind, and under the Sensibilities, all the feelings of the mind, whether
natural, as the emotions, desires, propensities, &c., or moral, viz. the conscientious
feelings, or moral sensibilities.
Of the propriety of this classification, though " never before formally adopted by
any writer on mental philosophy," he finds many confirmations in the incidental re-
marks of writers of careful observation and good sense. Thus in Drake's Essayt illus-
trative of the Taller, Spectator, and Guardian, vol. i. p. 50, occur the following remarks
on the character of Sir Richard Steele. " His misfortune, the cause of all his errors, was
not to have clearly seen where his deficiencies lay ; they were neither of the head, nor
of the heart, but of the volition. He possessed the wish, but not the poicer of volition, to
carry his purposes into execution." Lord Chesterfield (Lond. edit. vol. iti. p. 137) in
giving directions to his SOB as to the manner of conducting negotiations with foreign
ministers, makes use of the following language : " If you engage his heart, you have a
fair chance of imposing upon his understanding, and determining his will." Nor has
this grand division of our mental constitution escaped the penetration of that most pro-
found observer of human nature, our immortal dramatist :
" Tt shews a will most incorrect to heaven,
A heart unfortified —
An understanding simple and unschool'd.1*
HAMJ.ET, Act i. Sc. 5.
M
178 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
meek subordination and submission to God's power,1 keeping
down all our own workings that God may work within us.2
The connexion between the first three Beatitudes and the
central one, and the regular advance in the meaning, are now ma-
nifest. When we have come, 1st, to know our wants, 2dly, to
feel our wants, and 3dly, to act in accordance with the line of con-
duct thus demanded — which, as this is the negative and passive
side of the subject, consists in repressing the movements of the
old man within us, and restraining our own workings that God
may work all in all within us, — in the central Beatitude, these
initiatory steps are gathered up and concentrated in an intense
" hungering and thirsting after righteousness." To such the pro-
mise is that " they shall be filled," and the various steps, by which
this promise shall be accomplished, are indicated in the last three
Beatitudes, as consisting in the communication of mercy, purity,
and peace. Renewed into the image of God, believers are made
like unto Him and become " partakers of the Divine nature," and
1 Meekness is generally applied to patient submission to any thing that our fellow-
men make us to suffer : but as. all suffering, even when inflicted through the instru-
mentality of our fellow-creatures, proceeds ultimately from God (see 2 Sam. xvi. 11,
where David says of Shimei, " Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord hath
bidden him,") the Scripture considers all murmuring and impatience as directed in
reality against the Lord. See Exod. xvi. 7, 8, " What are we, that ye murmur against
us?" &c. Meekness, therefore, in its highest and truest sense, has reference to God,
and consists in an entire keeping down of all fretfulness (Psalm xxxvii. 7) and impa-
tient feelings, and a perfect submission of our evil wills to the will of God. Compare
James i. 2, 3, 13, 19.
8 In the words of John, the " Light," and " Love," and " Life" of God must be im-
parted to man's fallen nature.
As in the spiritual, so in the natural creation, the order of God's procedure, as re-
corded in Genesis (see pages 163-165) is the same. In that chaos, which, to render
the analogy between the material and the moral world more complete, geology now in-
forms us, arose from the ruins of a former organized world, after the Spirit of God
began to move upon the face of the waters, Light first was restored, then Order, and
thirdly Life. So in the moral world, Darkness, Disorder, and Death had laid waste
God's fair creation : the Spirit of man had become darkened, his Affections disordered,
his Powers of life enfeebled ; and the process of renewal corresponds. There is a
movement of the Spirit of God, and 1. " He who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, shines into the heart, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ." 2. Harmony is next restored to the affections which
were before in turbulence and disorder, and the love and peace of God rule in the
heart, regulating all its movements. 3. The life of God is imparted to the soul before
'• dead in trespasses and sins." — See Additional Note at End of Section.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 179
have the high and ennobling privilege conferred upon them, of
helping to extend these blessings unto others.
But before reflecting the image of God's perfections to others,
they must first have had these manifested in all their bright-
ness to themselves : before becoming " merciful," for example,
they must first have received God's mercy in full measure them-
selves. Before they can become " lights unto the world," the light
of God's mercy, purity, and peace must first have shone in upon
their own souls. The Christian's requisites for himself, so soon as
he has become fully alive to his wants, are,
1. Mercy — to pardon or justify him.
2. Purity — to sanctify him.
3. Peace — to bless him, and to " restore unto him the joy of God's salva-
tion, " PSALM LI. 14 (12.)1
But these three blessings are exactly those that are stated as
comprising " the benefits that those who are effectually called
partake of in this life " in that admirable compend of religious
truth, " the Shorter Catechism " of the Church of Scotland.
For Mercy — to pardon is equivalent to Justification.
, , Purity — to sanctify Sanctification.
„ Peace — to bless Adoption,
for the promise to " the peace-makers " is that " they shall be
called the children of God." In our Catechism, indeed, Sanctifi-
cation is placed last, after Adoption : but this is only because by
this word is generally understood the renewal of man in its whole
extent, as a progressive work, not completed in the Christian till
the end of life. In its germ, however, this blessing is communi-
cated at the moment of conversion. The seed is implanted which
in due time shall produce " first the blade, then the ear, after that
the full corn in the ear." " If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature :" his whole nature is changed : whereas before he loved
sin, he now loves righteousness ; and " he cannot sin, because he
is bora of God," 1 John iii. 9. In point of time therefore all the
great blessings bestowed on believers are simultaneous: for no
i See pp. 127, 128.
180 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
one can be converted, who is not also justified, nor justified, who
is not also regenerated, and in some measure renewed and sancti-
fied, nor renewed, who is not also adopted. There may therefore
be different arrangements, according to the aspect in which we
view these blessings : still the order in which they are here placed
is the true and logical order, and is most instructive.1 It reads a
warning lesson to those who by looking too exclusively to the
mercy of God, and forgetting his purity and holiness, would apply
to their own souls, or those of others, the blessings of salvation,
saying, " Peace, Peace, where there is no peace." The order, on
the contrary, in which the Saviour represents these blessings as
being imparted, demonstrably teaches that where God's mercy is
extended, it is only through the medium of purity, that peace can
be reached.
Such being the order in which God manifests these blessings to
His people, the same must be the order in which they exhibit
them to others, if they would be fellow-workers with God in ex-
tending these blessings to their fellow-sinners. If from having
themselves received mercy from God, they have been led to look
with a " merciful" eye on the spiritual destitution of others, they
are here impressively taught that they must first strive to have
their own " hearts pure," before they can hope to " make peace "
unto others. In the Epistle of James, which from the striking
similarity of all its topics may be called a Commentary on the
Sermon on the Mount, those who would be " masters," " wise men
and endued with knowledge " to teach others, are reminded that
" the ivisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable"
James iii. 13. The disturbing and strifeful element must have
been previously cast out of their own hearts, for " the wrath of
man worketh not the righteousness of God," James i. 20. " The
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace,"
James iii. 18. And in the sequel of the Sermon on the Mount,
the whole of which is but a development of the truths set forth in
the Beatitudes, and in which the same threefold division prevails
throughout, our Lord again inculcates the necessity of previous
1 It is that which is followed, as we have seen, throughout the whole of that most
perfect model of penitential devotion, Psalm li., and four several times repeated. See
pp. 117 and 127-130.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 181
self -purification in all who would attempt to remedy the spiritual
blindness of others.
*' First cast out the beam out of thine own eye ;
" And then shalt thou see clearly to east out the mote out of thy brother's
eye." — MATT. vii. 5.
The seven Beatitudes then form one grand organic whole, con-
stituting the essential elements of the Christian character, all so
indissolubly connected that none, who is wholly destitute of any
one of these graces, need flatter himself that he is truly possessed
of any other ; and he who truly possesses one must possess all
the rest, at least in germ. Even the crowning blessing of "peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost" we find mentioned in Acts xvi. 34
as one of the immediate accompaniments of conversion. The
jailor of Philippi, we read, " rejoiced, believing in God with all
his house." " Being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ," Rom. v. 1. Still there is an
exact sequence in the order of their development which cannot
be deranged. The succeeding graces flow from those which pre-
cede them, and which, in logical order at least, must necessarily
first be in existence in order to the production of those that fol-
low. Thus, no one can truly mourn for his want of righteous-
ness, who has not first become sensible of his spiritual poverty.1
No one will meekly submit to the discipline and remedies that
the physician of souls judges necessary for the cure of his evils,
but he who has not only become sensible of his malady, but de-
plores its virulence.
These three dispositions must be combined and be permanently
implanted in the mind, before we shall " hunger and thirst after
righteousness" as after our daily " meat and drink"
According as these wants are more or less urgently present to
the believer, will the supply of the positive graces be accommo-
dated : and in these, in like manner, we cannot alter the order to
ourselves even in our conceptions of them without injury to the
truth.
Eegarding these blessings first as they are imparted to our-
selves by God — mercy to pardon our sins must precede ike purity
1 " They that are whole need not a physician ; but they that are sick. I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." — Luke v. 31, 32.
182 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
that is to cleanse our hearts ; in other words, justification we
must conceive of as previous to sanctification. True, justification
cannot take place without an immediate measure of sanctification
following. The mercy of our heavenly Father towards us cannot
be apprehended, without a corresponding return of love — which is
" the fulfilling of the whole law," in other words, righteousness —
being necessarily called forth in the heart. Still the love of God
comes first, and is the generating cause of our love to Him. " We
love him because he first loved us." So also peace can only be
attained through the medium of purity. " There is no peace,
saith my God, to the wicked." — Isaiah Ivii. 21.
Again, regarding these blessings as already imparted to the
believer and diffusing their blessed influence from him to others,
the first indispensable step is that he become " merciful." He must
learn to see with compassionate eye the wants and sinfulness of
others, before he will be moved to remedy them ; but it is only
through the medium of purity, as we have before stated, that he
is to aim at imparting to them peace.
If we are right in the view now given, we have a criterion by
which to judge of the correctness of a reading that has greatly
divided Scripture critics, by which the second and third Beati-
tudes are made to change places, " the meek" being placed before
" the mourning." This reading has the authority of the Vulgate
in its favour, and has been adopted by late editors of high name,
such as Lachmann and Tischendorf. It is supported, moreover,
by the authority of Augustine, Neander, Trench, &c., who argue
for it as required by the logical coherence of the thoughts.
The argument from this last source has, we trust, been already
disposed of satisfactorily, and shewn to be in favour of the received
text. But the numerous correspondencies, and many-sided rela-
tions of Scripture, which Parallelism opens up to us, as existing
side by side without mutual confusion, will furnish us with addi-
tional reasons for not departing from the usual reading ; and
will in this, as we have before shewn in the case of the Decalogue,
incontestably prove which is the true arrangement, since the dis-
placing of any one member of the septenary arrangement would
destroy the unity and symmetry of the whole.
In the first place, the Beatitudes according to the reading of
the received text refer, 1st. to the Spirit, 2d. to the Soul, and 3d.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 183
to the Body. Now this is the true order of these three parts of
our nature relatively to each other, as indicated even by the place
which the seats, or external representatives of these, occupy in the
human frame — (an analogy not to be slighted) — the Head, the
Heart, and the Hand. The Head is placed first, or at the head,
to discern, devise, and direct ; the Heart in the middle, to prompt,
and the Hands (or Feet) at the extremity, to execute. Or, Jf
we look at these powers with a reference to the duties which we
owe to our Maker, God has given us a spirit to know him, a soul
to love him, and a body, or powers, to serve him. But we must
first knoio him before we can love him, and love him before we
can serve or obey him. The reality of our, love can only be
proved by act, by the dedication of all our powers to him, and
doing his will.
The first or "principal thing is wisdom : therefore get wis-
dom, get understanding," Prov. iv. 7. The end of all is doing
good — practical benefit ; but this must be prompted, and to be
effectual, guided, by love. The central point in true religion is
love : to which all knowledge must tend, and from which all
action must emanate. The intimate connexion of the first and
last is proverbial ; " knowledge is power ;" but to be sanctified,
these two must be united by the principle of divine love.
2. This is the true order according to St Paul in his enumera-
tion, 1 Thess. v. 23, " I pray God, your whole spirit, and soul,
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ." This order may indeed be reversed, when the
intention is to encourage to active exertion as the principal ob-
ject, and only to trace tliis back to the others as its necessary
antecedents, as in 2 Tim. i. 6, 7 : " Stir up the gift of God which is
in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear ; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind." But there will be no transposition of the terms (except
under very peculiar circumstances1) as would be the case by
adopting the reading against which we contend, so as to place
the heart at the extremity.
3. Professor Upham, in his Elements of Mental Philosophy, has
shewn that this is the correct sequence of the operations of the
1 See below Matt. vi. 19-24.
184 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
human mind, which he has thus arranged, dedicating a volume to
each division : 1st. The Intellect ; 2d. The Sensibilities ; 3d. The
Will. " There is and can be no movement of the sensibilities,
(he remarks, vol. ii. p. 17) no such thing as an emotion, desire,
or feeling of moral obligation, without an antecedent action of
the intellect. If we are pleased or displeased, there is necessarily
before the mind some object of pleasure or displeasure ; if we
exercise the feeling of desire, there must necessarily be some
object desired, which is made known to us by an action of the
intellect. So that if there were no intellect, or if the intellectual
powers were entirely dormant and inactive, there would be no
action of the emotive part of our nature and of the passions."
Nor again, he affirms, can the Intellect affect immediately the
Will but only through the intervention of the Sensibilities. In
confirmation of this position, he adduces several passages from
some of the most eminent metaphysicians. Thus Locke, in his
Essay on the Understanding, Book II. ch. xxi. § 46, remarks,
" Thus, by a due consideration, and examining any good pro-
posed, it is in our power to raise our desires in a due proportion
to the value of that good, whereby, in its turn and place, it may
come to work upon the will, and be pursued. For good, though
appearing and allowed ever so great, yet, till it has raised desires
in our minds, and thereby made us uneasy in its want, it reaches
not our wills." To the same effect Mr Hume, in his Disserta-
tion on the Passions, says : " It seems evident that reason in a
strict sense, as meaning the judgment of truth and falsehood, can
never of itself be any motive to the will, and can have no influence
but so far as it touches some passion or affection." And to cite-
only another authority, Sir James Mackintosh, in his General
View of the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, more than once
makes the remark, " that no perception or judgment, or other
unmixed act of the understanding, merely as such, and without
the agency of some intermediate emotion, can affect the will"
4. The alteration proposed would derange the exact parallelism
which we have already shewn to subsist between each of the suc-
cessive terms of the first and last ternary series of Beatitudes.
For the last series, like the first, has a reference to the threefold
operations of the human mind, and presents them in the same
order. As in the first three Beatitudes we see the various steps
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 185
of self-renunciation which the Christian has to acquire, that he
must learn,
1st, in thought, to be poor and humble ;
2d, in heart, to be contrite and penitent ;
3d, in act, to be meek and submissive :
so in the last three Beatitudes, which comprehend the graces
which must be possessed by the Christian before he can truly
influence others and win souls unto Christ, we are taught that we
must learn,
1st, in thought, to be merciful1 to our poor brethren;
2d, in heart, to be pure, showing " love out of a pure heart ;"
(1 Tim. i. 5)
3d, in act, to be peace-makers.
But this beautiful correspondence would be destroyed, were the
heart to be placed last in the first series.
5. There is an evident connexion between the first and third
members of each of the Triplets of Beatitudes : 3 between 'Hhe
poor in spirit" and " the meek ;" and between " the merciful" and
" the peace-makers." Humility and meekness are classed together
in all minds as kindred virtues, and mercy and peace, in like
manner, go together. The distinction between humility and
meekness we take to be this, that
Humility denotes a lowly opinion of one's self.
Meekness a lowly submission of one's will and acts to the will
of God.
And in the same manner, as the parallelism requires, the merciful
man is he who views with compassionate eye the miseries of
others : the peace-maker is. he who does his utmost to remove
them.
' * Mercy has always reference to those that are " poor," and in distress of some kind,
ftnd t'n need of compassion.
2 " Seeing ye have purified your souk in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto
unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure hturt fer-
vently." (1 Pet. i. 22).
J We already had occasion to remark the frequency of this parallelism between
the first and last term in a ternary arrangement. It is natural that the conclusion
should correspond with the commencement, that as we begin, so we should end.
186 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM:
6. As the eoctremes are connected, so are the means or middle
terms.
( The poor in spirit.
A -< The mourning.
(The meek.
B The hungering and thirsting.
f The merciful.
C -^ The pure in heart.
( The peace-makers.
The centre B of the whole triplet A, B, C, as well as the centres
of the subordinate triplets A and C, all relate to the heart, to its
1. feelings, 2. desires, and 3. purification. It is worthy of obser-
vation that the heart is thus represented as forming in every view
the inmost centre or heart of the Christian character. To the
heart we are directed to look as that to which every thing must
tend, and from which all must proceed : for " out of it are the
issues of life."
7. There is still another division of the Seven which we have
not hitherto noticed, in which the first term is made to stand
alone by itself, as already including implicitly within it all the
rest, and out of which they evolve themselves in three connected
pairs. An instance of this division occurs in Isaiah xi. 2 :
And THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD shall rest upon him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
Here all the seven spirits are in reality but one,1 and are impli-
citly contained in the one which stands first and alone, THE
SPIRIT OF THE -LORD, which however, as we see, unfolds itself into
three connected pairs.
1 Just as in Rev. i 6 " The seven Spirits which are before God's throne" denote
only the one Holy Spirit in the fulness of his covenant-gifts, as is evident from the
arrangement :
Grace be unto yon, and peace,
Father : From Him which is — and which was — and which is to come ;
Spirit : And from the Seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Son : And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness — and the first begotten of
the dead — and the prince of the kings of the earth.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 187
Amidst the other arrangements of which we have shewn this
most perfect Seven, with which our Lord opens his Divine dis-
course, to be susceptible, the last is not wanting.
Blessed are THE POOR IN SPIRIT.
( Blessed are they that mourn :
( Blessed are the meek.
( Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness :
(_ Blessed are the merciful.
f Blessed are the pure in heart :
(_ Blessed are the peace-makers.
According to this arrangement, the first great change produced
in the mind of the Christian — poverty in spirit — is made to stand
alone, in a distinct category by itself, to mark that it already
includes implicitly in itself all the rest, and that those who possess
this Christian grace with its accompanying blessing, already pos-
sess all the rest — " for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."1 This
one virtue of Humility is the foundation on which the whole
superstructure of Christian graces rests — the root, or living seed
from which all the others will without fail gradually develop
themselves in due succession. From this germ springs up a
threefold stem, each branch bearing its twofold fruit : the first
more of an inward and personal nature, marking the change pro-
duced in the heart of the individual himself ; the other, the cor-
responding outward fruit, which exhibits itself in his relation
towards others.
Thus in the first pair, " mourning " is the personal feeling
awakened in the Christian by the view of the evils in his own
1 The remarkable distinction in the blessing attached to this disposition places it
apart by itself. To all the other dispositions a promise of some future good is made,
" For they shall be comforted." " For they shall inherit the earth," &c. To " the
poor in spirit " the blessing is present and immediate : " For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." The great change has been effected. They have " passed from death unto
life." They are " delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the king-
dom of God's dear Son." Henceforth their progress and final consummation are
secure.
188 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
heart. " Meekness" is the disposition wherewith he strives to
meet the evils which he suffers from others, by suppressing every
angry or impatient emotion towards them.
To reverse this order, as Tischendorf, Neander, &c. do, is to
reverse the order of Christian growth, according to which the in-
ward must precede the outward.1 Heartfelt meekness and sub-
mission to the outward evil which God deems it necessary for us
to suffer, can only be attained by him who has already learned to
know and mourn over the depth and intensity of the true evil,
which is within, sin ; for the subduing of which he will cheer-
fully submit to every discipline appointed by his heavenly Father.
In the second pair, the internal " hungering and thirsting after
righteousness " produced in the Christian's mind from a profound
sense of his own wants, is accompanied with mercy towards the
deficiencies of others.
In the third connected pair, we are taught that in exact pro-
portion as the believer's own " heart is purified " from every thing
that intercepts the genial current of love and harmony, will he
desire, and be fitted, to be a " peace-maker" to others.
2. THE LORD'S PRAYER.
If such then be the successive stages of Christian sanctification,
as set forth by Him who knew what was in man, and the exact
and unalterable order according to which believers must grow up
into the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus, the same must
be the order of the prayer for Christian sanctification. Accord-
ingly we shall find tfiat each successive Christian disposition is
furnished with its appropriate corresponding utterance in the suc-
cessive petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Seven are the Christian
dispositions, on which a blessing is pronounced ; and seven are
the petitions of the Lord's prayer, the first three relating to God,
and the last four to ourselves.
1 I find I have been anticipated by Bengel, in his admirable Gnomon, both in the
observation of the connexion between these pairs of Beatitudes, and in the argument
derived from thence for adherence to the reading in the received Text. His words
are, " Sed manet ordo versiculorum : namque versui tertio subordinatur versus quartus,
et versui quinto subordinatur versus sextus."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 189
Our Father who art in heaven 1
1. ("Thy Name be hallowed,
2. -< Thy Kingdom come,
3. (Thy Will be done,
As in heaven, so on earth.
4. Give us this day our daily bread,
5. (And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,
6. -< And lead us not into temptation,
7. (But deliver us from evil.
From ignorance of the principles of Parallelism, the connexion
of the fifth line " as in heaven, so on earth" has been generally
misapprehended, and its import confined to the third petition
alone, whereas it applies equally to all the first three. In the
few brief but weighty words of the Invocation, the true attitude
in which the Christian is to approach God, is clearly defined. In
the original it consists of three parts,1 " Father, — our (Father) —
who art in heaven" each profoundly significant. To what a glorious
privilege are we at once elevated by the first word ! We are en-
couraged to draw near to God, no longer in the spirit of fear and
bondage, but in the spirit of adoption, addressing Him as our
Father in Christ, with the reverential but confiding affection of
children to a parent — children by a new and spiritual birth,
unto whom Christ has " given power to become the sons of God."
Love to God, then, as a Father, is the first and leading idea of
the prayer ; but combined with this as second and subordinate,
yet indissolubly connected with it, love to our brethren. In
addressing God as " our Father," we are taught to pray as mem-
bers all of one body and members one of another, none of whom
shall be perfected without the other.
But while thus brought nigh, and invited to intimate commu-
nion, we are by the next words reminded of the distance which
yet separates between the sinner and his God. " Our Father, —
who art in heaven" God is in heaven, while we are on earth.
To this corresponds the fifth line, " as in heaven, so on earth,"
which refers equally to all the three intervening petitions ; and
we are taught to pray that for the advancement of His own glory,
f — iftat — f rtif *<•
190 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
God would again descend from heaven to earth, and renew the
intercourse which has been broken off by otir sins, so that His
" name may be hallowed," His " kingdom come," and His " will
be done," " as" among the angels and glorified spirits " in heaven,"
" so" among men here " on earth."
The Beatitudes are divided into Four and Three, beginning
with man and man's wants, and ending with God and God's ful-
ness. The Christian prayer, on the contrary, is divided into
Three and Four, beginning with God and His glory as the first
and highest object to be contemplated in prayer, second and
subordinate to which must be the petitions for the supply of our
own wants, however pressing.
The reason of the difference is evident. In the Beatitudes
Christ unfolds the order of Christian development and sanctifica-
tion in its lower or human aspect. A sense of our own wants there-
fore must come first, as preparatory for our reception of those
graces which assimilate us to the Divine nature. We must rise
from the sense of our own deep degradation and nothingness, to
the contemplation and apprehension of the fulness of God, as of
possible attainment by us. The creature (Four), therefore, here
precedes, and the thoughts are next raised to God (Three).
But in prayer, the God-ward aspect is that which predominates.
Before indeed the soul can be raised in prayer to God, it must
have already been so far strengthened as to look away and up
from its own wants, unto that fulness from which they can be sup-
plied ; and Christ teaches us by the order of the petitions, and the
numbers impressed on the prayer (3 and 4), not to look principally
to ourselves, which could only lead to despair, but having our eye
fixed on God's glory as involved, and pledged for the accomplish-
ment of those magnificent promises which He has made to His
church, to make the advancement of His Name and Kingdom and
Will the leading object of our desires and petitions, and in sub-
serviency alone to this great end to ask those things that are ne-
cessary for our own well-being, that we may be fitted for further-
ing our part of the glorious work. Three therefore here precedes,
and Four follows.
Finally, let us endeavour to trace the correspondence between
the individual Beatitudes and Petitions, (see pp. 166, 167.)
1st Beatitude, and 1st Petition. — If we have truly made our
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 191
own the first Christian temper, " Blessed are the poor in spirit,"
and in the very depths of our spirit have come to know and
acknowledge that "in us dwelleth no good thing," that "God
alone is good," and the author of all good, then will every proud
and self-exalting thought be mortified within us ; and we shall
be prepared with understanding to enter into the prayer, " Thy
Name be hallowed." " Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but
unto thy Name give glory," Psalm cxv. 1.
Our spirits were given us that we may know God (see page
177) ; and our first and earnest prayer will be that God's Name,
by which he is known, and which includes " all that whereby he
maketh himself known,"1 may be more and more fully discerned
and hallowed with exclusive honour and reverence by ourselves,
and all his rational offspring here on earth.
2d, Beatitude, and 2d. Petition. — To " the poor in spirit" is
held out in prospect the central blessing, which already includes
all, " the kingdom of heaven." To him who has not only learned
to know his need of this blessing, but whose feelings have been
touched to mourn for the absence of Christ from his soul, and to
long for the presence of His kingdom, with all its spiritual riches
and comfort, what prayer can be more fitting than the petition,
" Thy kingdom come" !
And as the second blessed temper of mourning belongs to the
domain of the Heart, the second petition must be held to ap-
pertain more particularly to the same region. " Thy kingdom
come," that is, first and especially in the hearts of men ; for " the
kingdom of God," the Saviour assures his disciples, "is within
you."
3d. Beatitude, and 3d. Petition. — Meekness, we have already
defined to be (see note to p. 178) in its highest and truest sense,
an entire submission of our own evil wills to the holy will of
God. What more appropriate utterance could be found for such
a disposition, than the aspiration, " Thy will be done" !
4th. Beatitude, and 4th. Petition. — Thoroughly awakened now
to the threefold wants of his nature, the believer's whole energies
are concentrated in an intense "hungering and thirsting after
righteousness," and the cry which ascends from the famishing
1 " Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism," Quest 101.
192 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM,
heart is " Give us this day our daily bread" — bread for our whole
being,1 for spirit, for soul, for body.9 Day by day the Israelites
received their supply of manna from heaven that they might
keep ever in mind their continual need and dependence on the
source of all good : and as this daily bread to which allusion
seems here evidently made, even under their carnal dispensation,
was not designed merely for the nourishment of their bodies, but
to teach them that man "doth not live by bread only, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord," Deut.
viii. 3, and typified that "true bread of life which came down
from heaven," John vi. 48-58, it seems improper to confine the
meaning here to bread for the animal life alone. " The petition
stands in the midst of purely spiritual supplications, and hence
implies a spiritual direction of the mind in the suppliant,"3 and
though the sustenance necessary for the physical existence is
doubtless included, it is but as a part of our whole being, and in
its subserviency to our higher and spiritual life, that we are here
enjoined to pray for its support.
This Beatitude, and its corresponding Petition, form the centre
and heart, each of its respective septenary series. This position
is not without significance. " Hungering and thirsting after
righteousness," if we would concentrate into one focus our ideas
of a true Christian, is the most perfect description that could be
given of him, as painfully conscious of the wide distance which
yet parts between him and the source of all perfection, and thus
"forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
1 This seems to be the true meaning of that much contested word l*n>virios'vrli\ch
our translators have rendered " daily." Thus Suidas and the Etymol. Mag. i \v\ ry
cufiix ri/uwv Kgfto^ay, " that which is suitable for our being." So the Greek Fathers
generally explain it (See Tholuck's Exposition of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, vol.
ii. p. 183), though most of them confine it to the bodily existence.
8 Here again I am happy to discover a striking coincidence of thought in Tapper's
Proverbial Philosophy, p. 113 ;
Humbly, as a grateful almsman, beg thy bread of God :
Bread for thy triple estate, for thou hast a trinity of nature.
Again pp. 138, 139;
No, thy trinity of nature, enchained by treble death,
Helplessly craveth of its God, Himself for three salvations:
The soul to be reconciled in love, the mind to be glorified in tight,
While this poor dying body leapeth into life.
* Olshatisen, Commentary on ^
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 193
unto those tilings which are before, pressing ever forward toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,"
Philip, iii. 13.
So the concentrated essence of prayer in the creature coming
with all his wants and desires before a throne of grace is " Give
us this clay our daily bread."
5th. Beatitude, and 5th Petition. — " Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy." — " Forgive us our debts, as we for-
give our debtors." We need but to place these side by side to
perceive at once their perfect correspondence.
Gth. Beatitude, and 6th Petition. — "Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God." The greater the progress that the
Christian has made in the attainment of this grace, the more that
he strives to purify his heart, the more deeply sensible and dis-
trustful does he become of its native corruption and deceitfulness,
and with so much the more earnestness will he breathe forth -the
prayer, " Lead us not into temptation."
7th. Beatitude, and 7th Petition. — Finally, the more that he
comes to see that sin is the source of all dispeace and disunion,
whether in his own breast or in the world around him, as being
enmity with God, the source of all blessing and joy — the more
that he comes to love peace and to makepeace as a child of God,
and as being reconciled to Him and to his brethren, the more
fervent will be his prayer, that he and all his brethren may be
delivered from the great enemy and destroyer of all peace, " evil"
— or "the Evil One."1 For " there is no peace," saith the Lord,
" unto the wicked."
The petitions in the Lord's Prayer, it will thus be seen, have
a reference, as might have been expected, to the three parts of
human nature. In praying for the renewal of God's communion
with man on earth, the change that has to be effected is not on
God but on man, since it is by our spirits that his name must be
hallowed, in our hearts that his kingdom must come, and by the
exertion of our wills and powers that his will must be done ; so
that in the first three petitions we pray in effect that our " whole
spirit, soul, and body may be sanctified," so as to hasten the glori-
fication of God's name, and kingdom, and will.
1 Ae some arc for rendering «*•» nu r«»n;«i7-
N
194 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The central prayer is for the supply of the daily nourishment
necessary for each of these parts of our being.
And for the accomplishment of those grand purposes of God
with which our prayer began, we conclude with asking the re-
moval from each of those hindrances, which at present more im-
mediately obstruct their free actings — that our spirits may be
delivered from the conscious sense of guilt which weighs them
down, by the forgiveness of past sins — that our weak and foolish
hearts may be saved from those temptations to sin under present
trials, which would prove too strong for them — and that our powers
may be delivered from the evil which clogs their free exercise, so
that henceforth we may be enabled to " run in the way of God's
commandments, and not be weary, to walk and not to faint."
Nothing could furnish a more suitable termination to the prayer
than this petition for the future full and final triumph over all
evil by "the redemption" even " of the body f which, according
to St Paul, Rom. viii. 23, will complete our title to " adoption/'
and bring us unto the perfect peace of " the children of God."
(Compare the seventh Beatitude.)
ADDITIONAL NOTE TO SECTION XIV. — SEE PAGE 178.
It is the office of the mvpa, spirit, to command, of the 4'"Z*i soul, to obey ; but by
the Fall the -^u^n has usurped the dominion. Hence the -^v^ixof Ztfyavrot (" the
natural man ") of St Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 14, is the emotional man, the man who is governed
by the $v%v, the mere emotions or desires of the moment, instead of being guided by
the fvtvp.u, the spirit, or reason. " In him the yntvft'x or spirit, being unvivified and
uninformed by the Spirit of God, is overborne by the animal [emotional] soul, with its
desires and its judgments." " The spiritual man, a wtuftarixof, on the contrary, is he
in whom the -ryivfitt rules, being exalted by the Spirit of God into its proper, para-
mount office of judging and ruling, and inspired and enabled for that office. Since by
man's fall the ifiiv^a. is overridden by the animal soul, and in abeyance, this always
presupposes the infusion of the Holy Spirit to quicken and inform the fvivpa. — so that
there is no such thing as an unregenerate •rvsvf.t.KTixo;.'" Alford's Greek Testament,
Comment, on 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15.
We indicate briefly, for the student's farther reflection, a few of those instances of
triplicity in Scripture to which the one now examined is the key.
Threefold are the temptations of man, " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life," 1 John ii. 16 — the threefold temptations by which the first Adam
fell, and over which the second Adam triumphed. In each case they were addressed
to the separate parts of human nature in the reverse order, ascending from the lower
to the higher.1
1 The true order of Christ's temptations is that given in Luke's Gospel.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 195
1st. Temptation, " the lust of the flesh." — Whatever tempts the body to indulgence
• — the powers to ease, and avoidance of suffering and self-denial.
The temptation to Adam was : " The tree was good for food."'
,, ,, Christ „ " Command this stone that it be made bread."
lid. Temptation, "the lust of the eyes,"— Whatever attracts the carnal eye, and
would draw to itself the heart, away from God.
The temptation to Adam : " The tree was pleasant to the eyes."
„ „ Christ : " The kingdoms of the world, with their glory."
Hid. Temptation, " the pride of life."— Whatever tempts the qririt to pride and
presumption.
The temptation to Adam : The tree seemed " desirable to make one wise.1'
,, „ Christ ; To cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple,
presuming on God's delivering him even in dangers of his owu seeking,
and to gain glory from the assembled multitudes below, by descending as
" the Lord suddenly come to his temple." J
Threefold are the enemies of human nature, " the flesh, the world, and the devil,"
each part having its more peculiar tempter; the flesh being the tempter of the body,
the world, of the soul or heart, and the devil, of the spirit, tempting it to his own pecu-
liar sin, pride, and rebellion against God — the highest of all — which however in some
measure is involved in every sin. And though this sin is peculiarly characteristic of
Satan, and therefore he is specially regarded as the tempter to it, yet he uses the world
and the flesh also, as temptations inferior to his own, yet leading to it.
But threefold are the offices which the Saviour holds to meet the wants of each part
of our nature — Prophet, Priest, and King; — to impart, as need requires, "wisdom, —
righteousness and sanctification, (ltx.a.io<rvvn n xeu a.'ytonr^.os) — and redemption," (com-
pare Rom. viii. 23, " the redemption of our body\ until his people be fully renewed
again after the image of Him that created them in kmowkdye — rig Jiteous ness and holi-
ness—with dominion over the creatures.
Threefold therefore is the nature of man, because made after the image of God ; and
threefold consequently must be the essential attributes of Deity, wisdom, goodness, and
power.
Is not then this very triplicity of nature in man, wherein he so far resembles his
Creator, another of those analogies intended 'to facilitate our faith in the higher verity
of a Trinity in the Divine nature ? If man consists of three distinct parts, spirit, soul,
and body, which yet are so indissolubly united as to form one being, why may not a
similar distinction consist with perfect unity in the Godhead ?
Or to put the argument in a different form : There is an absolute distinct difference
in the three essential attributes of God. His wisdom is entirely distinct from His
goodness, and both from His power. Yet no .one will for a moment contend, that this
distinction destroys the unity of His nature. These attributes are not one and the
same, nor three distinct aspects of the same perfection, but three entirely distinct ideas
which cannot be confounded. Still they are so connected in the Divine Mind as to
form one indivisible Being. God therefore is not one in such a sense as to exclude all
distinction and diversity. And if in one respect there exists such a distinction in the
Godhead, entirely compatible with His unity, why not in another, which we cannot
better understand, nor more clearly define, than by the Scriptural representations and
expressions—" Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" ?
1 Mr Alford calls this " a perfectly gratuitous assumption, that an exhibition to the people
was intended." Why then did the Tempter bring Christ away from the many precipitous
heights in the wilderness to the temple specially !
196 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
SECTION XV.
We give the whole Sermon on the Mount in one continuous
form, to enable the reader to apprehend more readily the arrange-
ment and connexion of the various parts, as illustrated in the fol-
lowing pages : —
MATTHEW v. 3. — vn. 27.
THE INTRODUCTION.
1. TJie character of the true members of Chrisfs Jdngdom diametrically op-
posed to the expectations^ and character, of the World.
Seven Beatitudes^ or Progressive Stages of the Christian Life.
3. f Blessed are the poor in spirit :
For their's is the kingdom of heaven.
4. J Blessed are they that mourn :
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek :
, For they shall inhabit the earth.
6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness :
For they shall be filled.
7. f Blessed are the merciful :
For they shall obtain mercy.
8. j Blessed are the pure in heart :
For they shall see God.
9. Blessed are the peace-makers :
For they shall be called the children of God.
2. Their consequent Treatment by the World.
10. Blessed are they •which are persecuted for righteousness' sake :
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 197
11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
And shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad :
For great is your reward in heaven :
For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
3. Their duty to the World.
13. Ye are the salt of the earth :
But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,
And to be trodden under foot of men.
14. Ye are the light of the world : *
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid :
15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
But on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house.
1 6. Let your light so shine before men,
That they may see your good works,
And glorify your Father which is in heaven.
THE SUBJECT. (Ao'/oj.)
" Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness."
I.
17. THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO DESTROY THE LAW AND THE
PROPHETS.
A. I am not come to destroy, (Negative Proposition.)
B but to fulfil. (Positive Proposition.)
^\. Negative Proposition repeated and expanded.
18. For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass away,
One jot, or one tittle shall in no wise pass away
From the law, till all be fulfilled.
198 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so,
He shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven :
But whosoever shall do and teach them,
The same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
d). Positive Proposition repeated and expanded.
20. For I say unto youj
That except your righteousness shall abound,
More than that of the Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Christ proceeds to shew that not he, but the Scribes and Pha-
risees, destroyed the Law,
A. By their Teaching ; B. By their Practice.
II.
A. The Teaching of Christ contrasted with that of the Scribes.
Perfected Form of the Second Table of the Law.
1. Laic of the Individual Life ( = VI. Commandment = V. Beatitude}.
21. Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,
THOU SHALT NOT KILL :
And whosoever shall kill,
Shall be in danger of the Judgment.
22. But I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause,
Shall be in danger of the Judgment :
And whosoever shall say to his brother, Kaca,
Shall be in danger of the Council :
But whosoever shall say, Thou Fool,
Shall be in danger of the Gehenna of Fire.
23. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar,
And there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee :
24. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ;
First be reconciled to thy brother,
And then come and offer thy gift.
SCR1FTURE PARALLELISM. 199
25. Agree with thine adversary quickly,
Whiles thou art in the way with him :
Lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge,
And the judge deliver thee to the officer,
And thou be cast into prison.
26. Verily I say unto thee,
Thou shalt by no means come out thence,
Till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
2. Law of the Family Life ( = VI 1. Commandment = VI. Beatitude).
i
27. Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,
THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY :
28. But I say unto you,
That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her,
Hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
29. And if thy right eye offend thee,
Pluck it out, and cast it from thee :
For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
And not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30. And if thy right hand offend thee,
Cut it off, and cast it from thee :
For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
And not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
31. It hath been said,
Whosoever shall put away his wife,
Let him give her a writing of divorcement :
32. But I say unto you,
That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of for-
nication,
Causeth her to commit adultery ;
And whosoever shall marry her that is divorced,
Committeth adultery.
3. Central Law of Truth ( = IX. Commandment).
33. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time,
THOU SHALT NOT FORSWEAR THYSELF,
BUT SHALT PERFORM UNTO THE LORI) ffalNE OATHS.
200 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
34. But I say unto you,
Swear not at all :
Neither by heaven ;
For it is God's throne :
35. Nor by the earth ;
For it is his footstool :
Neither by Jerusalem ;
For it is the city of the great King :
36. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head ;
Because thou canst not make one hair white or black
37. But let your communication be Yea, yea ; Nay, nay :
For whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Law of the National Life ( = VIII. Commandment).
4. Law of the National Life, on its Negative or Passive Side.
( = ///. Beatitude).
38. Ye have heard that it hath been said,
AN EYE FOR AN EYE,
AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH ;
39. But I say unto you,
That ye resist not evil ;
But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
Turn to him the other also :
40.
41.
Go with him twain.
42. Give to him that asketh thee ;
And from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat,
Let him have thy cloak also :
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile,
5. Law of the National Life, on its Positive or Active Side.
(— VII. Beatitude).
43. Ye have heard that it hath been said,
TllOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR,
AND HATE THINE ENEMY :
44. But I say unto you,
Love your enemies :
( Bless them that curse you,
•< Do good to them that hate you,
(^ And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you ;
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
201
45. That ye may be the children
Of your Father which is in heaven :
f For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
~\ And sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46. f For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye ?
J Do not even the publicans the same ?
47. " 1 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others ?
Do not even the Gentiles so ?
48. Be ye therefore perfect,
Even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
III.
B. The Practice required by Christ of Ms Disciples, contrasted with the
Practice of the Scribes and Pharisees.
First Defect of the Pharisaical Righteousness, Ostentation or Hypocrisy.
God must be supremely regarded in all our acts.
Ch. vi.
1 . Take heed that ye do not your righteousness
Before men, to be seen of them :
Otherwise ye have no reward
Of your Father which is in heaven.
a. In the duties owed to our Neighbours.
Therefore when thou doest thine alms,
Do not sound a trumpet before thee,
As the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
That they may have glory of men ;
Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.
But when thou doest alms,
Let not thy left hand know
What thy right hand doeth,
That thine alms may be in secret ;
And thy Father which seeth in secret,
Himself shall reward thee openly.
202 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
r
b. In the duties owed to God.
5. f And when thou prayest,
Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are :
For the}' love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners
of the streets ;
That they may be seen of men :
Verily I say unto you,
[ They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest,
Enter into thy closet,
And when thou hast shut thy door,
Pray to thy Father which is in secret :
And thy Father which seeth in secret,
^ Shall reward thee openly.
7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do :
For they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8. Be not ye therefore like unto them :
For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye
ask him.
9. After this manner therefore pray ye.
OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HKAVEN,
THY NAME BE HALLOWED,
10. THY KINGDOM COME,
THY WILL BE DONE,
As IN HEAVEN, SO ON EARTH.
11. GlVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
12. AND FORGIVE us OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.
13. AND LEAD us NOT INTO TEMPTATION,
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For thine is the kingdom, "j
And the power, > for ever. AMEN.
jj^nd the glory, j
14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
Your heavenly Father will also forgive you ;
15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
Neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 203
c. In the duties owed to ourselves.
16. Moreover, when ye fast,
Be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance ;
J For they disfigure their faces,
That they may appear unto men to fast :
Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.
17. f But thou, when thou fastest,
Anoint thine head, and wash thy face ;
18.) That thou appear not unto men to fast,
I But unto thy Father, which is in secret ;
I And thy Father, which seeth in secret,
l_ Shall reward thee openly.
Second defect of the Pharisaical righteousness, Worldliness, or anxiety to secure
both earth and heaven.
God must be supremely regarded in all our affections.
19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
Where moth and rust doth corrupt,
And where thieves break through and steal ;
20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
And where thieves do not break through nor steal :
21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22. The light of the body is the eye :
If therefore thine eye be single,
Thy whole body shall be full of light.
23. But if thine eye be evil,
Thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
How great is that darkness !
24. No man can serve two masters :
For either he will hate the one, and love the other :
Or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God, and mammon.
204 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
25. Therefore I say unto you,
Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat,
Nor yet for your body what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat ?
Andrthe body than raiment ?
26. Behold the fowls of the air :
For they sow not, neither do they reap,
Nor gather into barns :
Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are not ye much better tlian the'y ?
27. Which of you by his anxiety can add one cubit to his life?
28. And -why are ye anxious about raiment ?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ;
They toil not, neither do they spin ;
29. And yet I say unto you,
That even Solomon in all his glory,
Was not arrayed like one of these.
30. If then the grass of the field,
Which to day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven,
God thus clothe,
Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?
31. Therefore be not anxious, saying,
What shall we eat' or, What shall we drink?
Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ?
32. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek ;
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these
things :
33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
And his righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you.
34. Be not therefore anxious about the morrow ;
For the morrow will be anxious about the things of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 205
Third defect of the Pharisaical righteousness, Spiritual Pride, or Self-
Righteousness.
God must be supremely regarded in all our judgments.
Ch vii.
1. f Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2. •< For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged :
(^ And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
We must acquire spiritual discernment, to judge.,
1. How to give.
3. And why beh oldest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,
But considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the
mote out of thine eye,
And behold a beam is in thine own eye ?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye,
And then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of
thy brother's eye.
2. To whom to give.
6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs ;
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine ;
Lest they trample them under their feet,
And turn again, and rend you.
3. What to give.
7. Ask, and it shall be given you ;
Seek, and ye shall find ;
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
8. For every one that asketh receiveth ;
And he that seeketh findeth ;
And to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9. Or what man is there of you,
Whom, if his son ask bread,
Will he give him a stone?
10. Or if he ask a fish,
"Will he give him a serpent?
11. If ye then being evil,
Know how to give good gifts unto your children,
How much more shall your Father which is in heaven,
Give good things to them that ask him ?
12. (Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to yoa,
•< Do ye even so to them :
(For this is the LAW and the PROPHETS.
206 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
THE CONCLUSION ('E<r/Xoyo;).
The Conclusion sums up in three practical exhortations the
whole Sermon. Such being the true spirit of the LAW and the
PROPHETS, and the strictness of the righteousness required,
1. Beware of Supineness :
(Refers to the Introduction, describing the narrow way, with its seven pro-
gressive stages, Sfc.)
13. Enter ye in at the strait gate :
For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruc-
tion,
And many there be which go in thereat :
1 4. For strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life,
And few there be that find it.
2. Beware of false teachers :
(Refers to A, the Teaching of the Scribes).
15. Beware of false prophets,
Which come to you in sheep's clothing,
But inwardly they are ravening wolves.
1 6. By their fruits ye shall know them.
Do men gather grapes of thorns ?
Or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit,
But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit,
17.
18.
19.
Is hewn down and cast into the fire.
20. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.
3. Beware of trusting to profession without practice :
(Refers to B, the Practice of the Scribes and Pharisees).
21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
Shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 207
22. Many will say unto me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ?
And in thy name have cast out devils ?
And in thy name done many wonderful works ?
23. And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you :
Depart from me ;
Ye workers of iniquity !
24. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man,
Which built his house upon the rock :
25. And the rain descended,
And the floods came,
And the winds blew,
And fell upon that house,
And it fell not : for it was founded upon the rock.
26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not,
Shall be likened unto a foolish man,
Which built his house upon the sand :
27. And the rain descended,
And the floods came,
And the winds blew,
And beat upon that house,
And it fell : and great was the fall thereof!
SECTION XVI.
After our Lord had, in the seven brief but profoundly signifi-
cant sentences with which he opens his Sermon on the Mount,
described the essential features of the character of those who
alone could have part in his kingdom, he next proceeds to warn
his disciples of the violent opposition which they must expect to
meet with from the world ; but encourages them " in nothing ter-
rified by their adversaries, to count it all joy, if to them it should
be given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
also to suffer for his sake," Phil. i. 29.
10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake :
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
208 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
11. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
And shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad :
For great is your reward in heaven :
For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The 10th verse, though resembling in form the seven Beati-
tudes, is yet, as we have seen, clearly distinguishable from them,
since it describes no additional grace essential to the Christian
character. Yet not the less does it mark a more advanced stage
in the Christian's progress. It is not until the inward change in
his own heart has become so complete, as to manifest itself out-
wardly in his endeavours to restrain the abounding iniquity in the
world around him, that he excites its determined opposition
against him. Having found peace himself, he strives to bring
others to peace ; but with Jeremiah, he will soon find reason to
say, " Wo is me, my mother, that thou hast born me a man of
strife and a man of contention to the whole earth" (Jer. xv. 10,
comp. John xv. 18-20). " I am for peace: but when I speak,
they are for war," (Psalm cxx. 7). " Persecution for righteous-
ness' sake" stands in immediate connexion and contrast with the
last and highest of the seven Christian tempers. " The peace-
maker" is sure to draw upon himself the enmity of those who will
not yield to his entreaties, whether, like Moses, he attempts to
reconcile brethren when striving with brethren (Exod. ii. 13, 14),
or to arouse the sinner to the danger of his rebellion against his
Almighty Sovereign, and " beseeches him to be reconciled to
God."
If it be asked, Is then this verse, which so exactly coincides in
form with the seven preceding verses, no eighth Beatitude ? We
answer, It is, and it is not. Seven in itself, like three, is a com-
plete and perfect number : yet at times, even when the climax
has been reached, the full heart will overflow, and pass the pre-
scribed measure in its anxiety to express the feelings with which
it is fraught. " Give a portion to seven — yea also to eight"
Eccles. xi. 2. " Thus saith the Lord : For three transgressions of
Damascus — and for four, I will not turn away the punishment
thereof," Amos i. 3. " For three transgressions of Gaza, — and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof," ver. 6, &c.
SCRIPTURE PARALLEL 1 209
Three times, as Balak complained (Numb. xxiv. 10), had
Balaam pronounced a blessing upon Israel, instead of the curse
which he had called him to imprecate. The number specially
appropriated to blessing1 was already complete ; yet he felt him-
self constrained once more to take up his parable, and to add a
fourth blessing to the three already uttered.2 Our Lord had al-
ready pronounced a complete sevenfold blessing upon his disciples,
but in his anxiety to comfort them under the trials which he
foresaw awaiting them, he would add one more still, beyond the
perfect number:
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, &c.
Theoretically, the Christian, if possessed of the seven disposi-
tions described, would be in all things " perfect, wanting no-
thing :" but practically, for the exercise and development of these
graces, conflict with an evil world is requisite, and like his Master,
the disciple of Christ must be made " perfect through sufferings."*
This 10th verse gathers up and concentrates in itself all the
preceding Beatitudes. It begins, like each of them, with pro-
nouncing who are " blessed ;" and in its three leading terms, it
bears a distinct reference to the concluding, central, and introduc-
tory Beatitudes. Its first term " persecuted," as we have just
remarked, stands in direct contrast with " the peacemakers" of
the last Beatitude : its central term " righteousness" refers to the
" righteousness" of the central Beatitude, after which the believer
was represented as " hungering and thirsting," but with which he
must now have been so far " filled," since its prominent manifes-
tation in his character has called forth the hostility of an unright-
eous world : and its concluding promise, " For theirs is the king-
1 Compare the threefold blessing of Moses, Nuinb. vi. 24-26 ; and of Paul, 2 Cor.
xiii. 14.
J Were it not beneath the dignity of the subject, we might quote, in illustration, the
familiar modes of expression prompted by a similar feeling, such as " Three times
three, and once more ;" " For a year and a day ;" " The thousand and one nights," &c.
3 " This," remarks Matthew Henry, " is the greatest paradox of all, and peculiar to
Christianity, and therefore it is put last, and more largely insisted upon than any of the
rest, ver. 10-12. This beatitude, like Pharaoh's dream, is doubled (ver. 10, 11), be-
cause hardly credited, and yet ' the thing is certain ;' and in the latter part there is a
change in the person, ' Blessed are ye ;' ye, my disciples and immediate follower-.
Tin's is that which you that excel in virtue are more immediately concerned in, for you
must count upon hardships and troubles more than other men."
O
210 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
dom of heaven," returns back to that with which the first Beati-
tude commenced, our Lord by this reiteration intimating that the
disciple, who has been proved by affliction, has now acquired a
new and more confirmed title to this all-comprehending promise,
and has made " his calling and election sure."
In ver. 11 he turns to his more immediate disciples, and ad-
dressing them directly, he substitutes persecution u for my sake"
for the persecution "for righteousness' sake" of the previous verse,
thus identifying his own cause with the cause of righteousness,
and preparing the minds of his hearers for that which we shall
see in ver. 17 was to form the main subject of his discourse, that
he " came not to destroy but to fulfil the law," by promoting its
great end righteousness : and in ver. 12 he concludes the central
division of the Introduction, the subject of which is the treatment
which the Christian may expect to meet from the world, with ad-
ducing two co-ordinate reasons for receiving all earthly trials with
joy and rejoicing :
For (1st), great is your reward in heaven :
For (2d), so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.1
Having thus admonished his disciples of the violent opposition
which they must expect to meet from the world, in the four verses
which follow (13—16), our Lord concludes the introductory part
of his discourse with impressing on their minds the highly honour-
able but responsible relation, which they are called on to sustain
towards the world. The nature of this vocation is shadowed
forth under the two images of " salt" and " light."
13. Ye are the SALT of the earth :
But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted ?
It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,
And to be trodden under foot of men.
(" 14. Ye are the LIGHT of the world :
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid :
15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
But on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house.
1 6. Let your light so shine before men,
That they may see your good works,
And glorify your Father which is in heaven.
1 See p. 56.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 211
The connexion of these verses with the preceding context
is evidently the same as in that portion of the last interces-
sory prayer which Christ offered in behalf of his disciples, con-
tained in John xvii. 14-18. " I have given them thy word : and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil. As thou hast sent me into the world" —
to purify and enlighten it — " even so have I also sent them into
the world" — to be its salt and its light. As salt, their vocation
was to counteract its moral corruption, and to impart a savour of
life and seasoning relish to that sacrifice, which the nations
should, through their ministration, offer of themselves to God
(compare Rom. xv. 16) : as light, which neither could be hid
(ver. 14), nor was intended to be hid (ver. 15), they were to dif-
fuse the knowledge of the truth, which had been made to shine
into the darkness of their own hearts, from the face of Christ
Jesus, the true " LIGHT" and " SUN of righteousness," and to
reflect that light unto others, especially by their good deeds and
holy living, with the single-minded purpose not of attracting
glory to themselves, but of themselves glorifying, and leading
others to " glorify, their Father who is in heaven."
If we now trace backwards the subjects of these seven verses,
we seem to find in the light, the salt, and the persecuting treat-
ment of Christ's disciples, a reference to the same three-fold divi-
sion, but in the reverse order, which obtains in the Beatitudes — the
knowledge of the head, the purity of the heart, and the deeds of
the hand : so that the introductory part of the discourse would
thus be marked out and rounded off, by returning at the close to
the same point from which it started.
Its limits are also defined by its consisting of three principal
divisions, as we shall find to be the case with the whole Sermon,
and with each of its subordinate parts.
The first division (ver. 3-9) describes the character which
Christians must acquire and maintain, in its striking contrast to
the character of the world.
The second division (ver. 10-12) describes the relation of the
world to Christians, or the treatment with which it will meet
their zealous efforts for its reformation.
212 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The third division (ver. 13-16) prescribes their relation to the
world, or the duty, which, notwithstanding every opposition, they
are called upon to discharge towards it, of counteracting its cor-
ruption and darkness.
The first and last divisions have thus, as usual, a common cha-
racter, both expressing what is internal and essential to the Chris-
tian— what he must be in himself, and in his relation to the world :
while the middle division expresses the treatment which he has
to expect from without, in the attitude of defiance and violent
opposition which the world will assume against all his efforts to
reform it.
The middle division is thus too the connecting link between
the first and last. In the first division, the personal character and
blessedness of Christians is the principal subject : they are repre-
sented as coveting for themselves the best gifts, " hungering and
thirsting after righteousness," and receiving the assurance that
" they shall be filled," and so abundantly as to overflow with
blessings of righteousness for others. In the middle division we
have the violent opposition made by an unrighteous world to the
efforts which they make to reclaim it from its corruption and
darkness : and this prepares the way for the concluding exhorta-
tions to the disciples never to forget their high vocation to keep
their own hearts incorrupt1 (ver. 13), and their light ever
burning, if they would avoid the judgment of the backslider, and
attain to the blessed reward promised to those who " turn many to
righteousness, of shining hereafter as the stars for ever and ever."
We have insisted the more on the evidences thus afforded that
the Introduction to the Sermon ends with the 16th verse, because
we observe that one of the latest commentators in Germany,
Kudolph Stier, whose " Discourses of the Lord Jesus" (Die Reden
des Herrn Jesu) have been so deservedly commended by Mr
1 Commentators have laboured in vain to find some natural phenomenon to illus-
trate the expression, " If the salt have lost its savour." Stier, we believe, has fallen
upon the true explanation. Salt, he remarks, can no more cease to be salt, than light
to be light. But as in condescension Christ calls those light, who are but the bearers
or reflectors of light, so he deigns to call those salt, who have received the salt or life-
giving power of the Spirit. He therefore warns his disciples to beware lest the salt
that is in them should lose its savonr, as the light that is in them may become dark-
ness (Matt. vi. 23), unless they are ever drawing new supplies from the fountain of
both.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 213
Alford, in his excellent edition of the Greek Testament, makes
the first division of the Sermon end with ver. 20.
Independently, however, of this proof, which was matter of
comparatively late observation, the three main divisions of the
Sermon were discovered many years previously by the application
of a rule of parallelistic composition which I now proceed to
state.
The commencement and conclusion of a subject or argument
in Scripture are frequently indicated by the recurrence of the
same or similar expressions at its opening and close. The inter-
vening topics form the proof and illustration of the proposition
laid down at the beginning, and re-asserted at the end. Of this
we have a clear example in one of the subdivisions of this dis-
course. (Ch. vii. 16-20).
By their fruits ye shall know them.
Do men gather grapes of thorns ?
Or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree briiigeth forth good fruit,
But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
Is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.
Here our Saviour, in cautioning his disciples against being de-
ceived by false teachers, lays down a plain rule by which they
might be distinguished in spite of all their fair pretensions. " By
their fruits ye shall know them." This proposition is proved
and illustrated by an argument drawn from the invariable cor-
respondence which subsists between the quality of the tree and its
fruit ; and after enforcing attention to the criterion thus furnished
by a warning, deduced from the same simile, of the miserable end
which awaits false teachers and their dupes, the proposition is re-
asserted at the close, with all the formality of a proposition in-
Euclid, in the same identical words :
Wherefore — by their fruits ye shall know them.
We have another short example in ch. vl 24.
214 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
No man can terve two masters :
For either he will hate the one,
And love the other :
Or else he will hold to the one,
And despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
Attention to this rule led the author, more than twenty years
ago,1 to the discovery of the principal subject of the Sermon on
the Mount. Having observed that the remarkable words, " the
Law and the Prophets," in Matt. v. 17, " Think not that I am come
to destroy the Law and the Prophets" again recurred towards the
end of the Sermon, in chap. vii. 12, " For this is the Law and the
Prophets," it struck me that the former was probably the enun-
ciation of the principal subject of the Sermon, and the latter, its
termination ; while all that lay between formed the proof and
illustration of the leading proposition. Further examination soon
confirmed the correctness of this supposition.
Let us first take a brief view of the whole argument.
The leading proposition here selected by our Lord as the grand
subject of this his first discourse of any length to his countrymen,
is the relation which his Gospel bears to the Jewish dispensation
as set forth by Moses and the Prophets. Already it is evident
that the opposition on the part of the Scribes and Pharisees had
been begun (v. 20, vii. 15), and that the cry had been raised
that the Law was in danger. This was the first, and continued
to be the favourite misrepresentation propagated against the Gos-
pel by all fiery zealots for the Mosaic law. It was the charge laid
against Stephen, " We have heard him say, that this Jesus of
Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs
which Moses delivered us," Acts vi. 14. It formed the great ob-
1 The views then formed of the connexion of the various parts of this discourse,
which exactly coincide with those now given, though not carried out so much into
detail, were embodied in two Lectures publicly delivered in March 1833, previously to
the date of publication of Tholuck's admirable " Exposition of Christ's Sermon on the
Mount." I mention this, not for the purpose of claiming any priority of discovery (in
which I find both have been long before anticipated by Bengel), but solely to shew
that the value of such formal rules of arrangement is not theoretical, but lias been
proved by actual experience. It was this discovery which first stimulated the author
to prosecute the study of parallelism as likely to lead to important results, for the elu-
cidation of Scripture.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 215
jection against the reception of the Christian doctrine with which
Paul had to contend, and which he repels in terms, almost exactly
equivalent to those of our Lord, in his Epistle to the Komans,
" Do we then make void (=" destroy") the law by faith ? God
forbid: yea, we establish (= « fulfil") the law," Rom. iii. 31.
Accordingly, throughout the whole of the Sermon, both an apolo-
getical and aggressive attitude is maintained against the Scribes
and Pharisees as his opponents.
" Think not," says he, as ye have heard alleged, " that I am
come to destroy the Law and the Prophets." This proposition is
divided into two : 1st, negatively, " I am not come to destroy,"
and 2d, positively, " but [I am come] to fulfil ;" and each of these
propositions, as will afterwards be shewn at greater length, is re-
peated and expanded, the first in verses 18 and 19, by asserting
the immutable permanence of the law, and pronouncing the de-
gradation of that man in the Messiah's kingdom, who should him-
self break, or by his teaching persuade others to break, one of its
least commandments ; and the 2d in ver. 20, by declaring that
the righteousness which he required in his followers must far ex-
ceed the boasted righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.
Our Lord now proceeds to refute the charge of the Scribes and
Pharisees that he destroyed the law, by turning it against them-
selves, and by shewing that not he, but they rendered it of no
effect, 1st, by their principles (A, v. 21-48), and 2d by their prac-
tice (B, vi. 1-vii. 12) ; or, as he himself has expressed the distinc-
tion, v. 19, 1st in their "teaching" and 2d in their "doing"
its commandments : while, in both respects, he. on the contrary,
" fulfilled" or completed it. The first words at the commence-
ment of each of these principal heads (A and B) of his discourse
plainly mark this to be the division ; in the first " Ye have heard"
(v. 21) viz. in the teaching of your Scribes : in the second, " Take
heed that ye do not your righteousness, &c." (vi. 1).
A. The Teaching of Christ contrasted with that of the Scribes
and Pharisees. Chap. v. 21-48.
Christ adduces five different commandments of God's law, and
contrasts his own spiritual explanation of them with the literal in-
terpretation and carnal glosses put upon them by the Scribes and
216 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Pharisees.1 The contrast is marked by the words, " Ye have
heard," — with allusion to the mode in which the people were in-
structed in divine knowledge, by hearing the law read publicly in
the synagogues, and accompanied with an explanation. See John
xii. 34, " We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for
ever," &c. — " Ye have heard," that is, from your teachers, " but /
say unto you." He teaches, in contradiction to their traditional
comments, in each of the five commandments adduced,
1. Thou shall not kill.
2. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
3. Thou shalt not forswear thyself,
But shalt perform unto the LORD thine oaths.
f 4. An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth.
I 5. Thou shalt love thy neighbour,
And hate thine enemy :
that the law reaches to the very source, and requires the perfect
obedience of the heart : that not merely the outward acts of sin
are forbidden, but the inward thoughts and feelings that could
lead to them : that 1. mercy, 2. purity, 3. truth, 4. love, passive,
and 5. active, " perfect even as our Father which is in heaven is
perfect," are its demands.
B. The Practice required by Christ of his disciples, contrasted
with the practice of the Scribes and Pharisees. Chap. vi. 1-vii. 12.
Here Christ proceeds to prove that he farther fulfilled or per-
fected the law (which the Pharisees, on the contrary, destroyed)
by requiring of his followers a righteousness, or a mode of per-
forming the law, far exceeding the righteousness of the Scribes
and Pharisees. Their righteousness, he shews, was deficient in
three respects, —
I. (vi. 1-18). It proceeded from ostentation and hypocrisy,
from a desire " to be seen of men" and not of God.
1 The appeal throughout is to that internal witness for God's holy law, and impar-
tial tribunal, which God has established in every heart.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. -J 1 7
vi. 1. Take heed that ye do not your righteousness1
Before men, to be seen of them : &c.
is the general proposition, which is exemplified : 1. in almsgiving,
ver. 2-4 ; 2. in prayer, ver. 5-15 ; 3. in fasting, ver. 16-18, —
these being individualising instances of the three great classes of
human duties, the 1st, of our duty to our neighbour, the 2d, of
our duty to God, and the 3d, of our duty to ourselves. (See
page 28.)
II. The second great defect of the Pharisees' righteousness
(ch. vi. 19-34) was its " double-mindedness,"8 as St James ex-
1 I think there can be no doubt that ^itenerant " righteousness," the reading of
Griesbach, Lachmann, &c. is the true one — not, however, in the apocryphal sense of
" alms, benevolence," but in its usual signification of righteousness, it being here a
generic term, including all the different species of righteous acts of which " almsgiving,
prayer, fasting," are given as examples. It is easy to see how the reading «A.i«/is<n//»»!»
" alms " could have been substituted for $/*a;«a-uv>i», from transcribers confining their
view to the immediate context (ver. 2), but not vice versa. But besides, " righteous-
ness " is required, since it evidently refers back to chap. v. 20, " except your righteous-
ness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees." The repetition of
righteousness is particularly appropriate at the commencement of the Section, where
our Lord proceeds to point out the defects of the Pharisaical righteousness.
And here we may remark how admirably, for the purpose of shewing the ground-
lessness of the objection that Christ came " to destroy the law," the great object and
requirement of the law, " righteousness," — which yet it could not effectuate, which He
alone could " fulfil " (a-X»{««-«<), or fully accomplish, who came to " magnify the law."
and to bring in an everlasting righteousness " — is kept continually before the mind of
his hearers, as Christ's principal object, by its being made to occupy all the more pro-
minent points in his discourse. First, it forms the central link of the seven-fold chain
of Christian graces with which the Sermon opens. " Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness." Next, persecution " for righteousness' sake," stands in
the front of the central division of the Introduction, ver. 10, where he identifies //is
own cause with the cause of righteousness, ver. 11. Having laid down the leading
proposition that he came " not to destroy, but to fulfil the law," immediately before
proceeding to the proof, he intimates his intention of requiring a new and more perfect
righteousness than that of the greatest zealots for the law, " Except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees " (v. 20.) Having shewn
in A wherein that righteousness consisted, according to the true interpretation of the
law, when he comes to contrast it with the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,
its name most appropriately meets us again (vi. 1), at the very commencement of If,
" Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them," &c.
And lastly, in the middle subdivision of B, we shall find attention is drawn to it as the
first and principal object of desire on which our hearts should be set (vi. 33). " But
seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness"— Compare LAW, pp. 29, 30.
2 Or rather " double-heartedness." 'Avij Sn^i/^of, " a double-souled, or double-
hearted man [divided between God and the world], is unstable in all his ways."
218 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
presses it. (James i. 8, iv. 8). They professed to have their
hearts set on heaven, while yet they were engaged in laying up
treasures for themselves on earth. But " where the treasure is
there will the heart be also." (ver. 19-21). Their eye was not
single in its aim, and therefore their spiritual vision was clouded
and obscured, (ver. 22, 23). They attempted to reconcile the in-
compatible services of two opposite masters, God and Mammon,
(ver. 24). They were cumbered and anxious about the things
of this world, instead of seeking as their first and great concern
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, with the simple faith
that all other things necessary would be added unto them, (ver.
25-34).
III. The third great defect of the Pharisees' righteousness was
their spiritual pride, or judging others severely from conceiving
themselves to be righteous, (chap. vii. 1-12).
Judge not, that ye be not judged :
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged ;
And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again :
this head being summed up in that admirably comprehensive
maxim,
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
Do ye even so to them ;
" FOR THIS" (including the exposition given of the precepts of
the law, and the dispositions with which its righteousness must
be practised " is (the true spirit of) THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS."
SECTION XVII.
Let us now examine more in detail those parts of the Subject,
or Main Body of the Discourse, on which the Parallelism is calcu-
lated to throw new light.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 219
For the arrangement of the first division we are indebted to
Bishop Jebb.
Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets :
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil ;
FOR verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass away,
One jot, or one tittle shall in no wise pass away,
From the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so,
He shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven :
But whosoever shall do and teach them,
The same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
FOR I say unto you,
That except your righteousness shall abound,
More than that of the Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
" I will confess," says Bishop Jebb, " that, for a long while, the
connexion of the last paragraph with the preceding exceedingly
perplexed me : I was quite unable to discover its orderly de-
pendence ; nor did the commentators afford me the least aid. At
length, I was led to distribute the clauses in the order now given,
and immediately my perplexities were at an end : nor am I with-
out hopes that my readers will go along with me, while I state
the considerations which freed my own mind from all doubt upon
the subject.
" In the second line, then, I conceive there is a division of the
subject into two branches : 1. I am come not to destroy : 2. But
I am come to fulfil. The first of these propositions is then taken
up and established : and the second proposition afterward under-
goes a like process. This is in fact but the extension of a mode
of composition, exemplified by Bishop Lowth, Prelimin. Dissert.
p. xxiv.
" I am black, but yet beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem ;
Like the tents of Kedar, like the pavilions of Solomon.
CAKT. i. 5 ;
" that is, black as the tents of Kedar (made of dark-coloured
goat's hair) ; beautiful as the pavilions of Solomon.
220 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
" On her house-tops, and to her open streets,
Every one howleth, descendeth with weeping.
ISAIAH xv. 3 ;
" that is, every one howleth on her house-tops ; and descendeth
with weeping to her open streets." In a similar way the present
example may be resolved into its component members :
1. I am come not to destroy the law or the prophets :
FOR verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass away,
One jot, or one tittle shall in no wise pass away, &c.
2. But I am come to fulfil the law and the prophets ;
FOR I say unto you,
That except your righteousness shall abound, &c.
Throughout the first division, our Lord shews that he was come,
not to supersede, or abolish the law : in the triplet, by asserting
its permanent immutability ; and in the quatrain, by declaring
the future degradation of him who should himself break, (AU^,
referring to the previous xaraXD^a/, " destroy," literally, " break
down"}, or, by his teaching, induce others to break the least of
the commandments. In the second division, with equal clear-
ness, though not by so many topics, or at equal length, our Lord
intimates that he was come, not only not to abolish, but to fulfil
the law ; as if he had said, " The Scribes and Pharisees are zeal-
ous for the law ; and in their zeal, may suppose that I am about
to subvert it. The very reverse, however, is the case. I am come,
in my own person, to fulfil, and in the persons of my followers,
both to command, and to facilitate, the fulfilment of the law. Be it
known, therefore, that unless your righteous conformity to the law,
both in letter and in spirit, far exceed that of the Scribes and
Pharisees themselves, you can neither, in this world, be my true
disciples, nor, in the world to come, partakers of my everlasting
kingdom."
In the first line of the concluding triplet, the verb vfeiffffsixrr),
" shall abound," seems to refer to KXqpuffou, " fulfil," in the second
line of the passage at large, in the same manner that Xu<nj, " break,"
as we have already seen, refers to xaraXZaai, " break down," or
" destroy :" and, in these two references, there is, I apprehend, a
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 221
curiously felicitous choice of words. Our Lord, in shewing that
he is not come, xaraX5<ra/, to abolish, or altogether to dissolve the
law at large, forbids his hearers, XS<ra/, simply to dissolve or break,
the least part of the law : here, the descending scale in crime, is
the ascending scale in morals. On the contrary, when proving
that he is come, wX^Stfa/, to fulfil, he instructs his disciples, not
merely that their righteousness must be full, it must abound, or
overftoiv, irtya<st\><s$ : virtue being here the subject, there is an
ascending scale not only in morals, but in words : the anticlimax
in the one place, and the climax in the other, are alike expressive
of ethical advancement." *
In confirmation of this arrangement of Jebb's, let us add the
following judicious remarks of Vinet's on the character of the per-
sons whom Christ had particularly in view in this twofold divi-
sion. " The multitude, who listened to our Lord's discourse," he
remarks, " was composed of two classes of persons. Some there
were who hated the law and all law, because the law is a curb, a
boundary, and this their passions will not admit. There were others
who professed a great respect for the law of Moses, who plumed
themselves on being the most rigid observers of it, and to whom
this affectation of obedience and simplicity had given much respect
and authority. Both classes were probably saying to themselves,
What is this new doctor going to teach ? There is already a
law, a law reputed divine, a law deemed perfect, a very rigorous
law. What remains for Jesus to do ? Is he going to abrogate,
or at least mitigate the law ? ' Ah !' say the former, ' in that
case he is welcome/ ' God forbid ! ' say the latter, ' that he
should abrogate this law which forms our glory, our power, and
which, in falling, would drag us in its fall. Let him confirm it
then, or be judged a false prophet/
" Jesus, who knows the hearts of both, replies to their thoughts.
' Think not,' he says to the former, c that I am come to destroij
the law ;' and by this one word he annihilates their foolish hopes.
To the latter he says, ' I am come to fulfil it/ This one word
disquiets them. What need is there of fulfilling this law ? Is
it not perfect ? What remains but religiously to maintain it ?"*
1 Jebb's Sacred Liter., pp. 377-380.
' Gospel Studies, by Alexander Vinet, D.D., p. 309. Collins, Glasgow.
222 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
To remove every hope from the former of any softening of the
strict requisitions of the law, Jesus adds, in the amplification of
the negative proposition,
Till heaven and earth pass away,
One jot, or one tittle shall in no wise pass away,
From the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, &c.
To the latter, who deemed the law already perfect, and their own
observance of it amply sufficient to entitle them to the highest
blessings from God, he adds, in the amplification of the positive
proposition, the appalling announcement :
For I say unto you,
That except your righteousness shall abound,
More than that of the Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Bishop Jebb's division thus appears to be correct, and two dis-
tinct classes of men found in all communities, and in all ages of
the Church, are thus seen to be addressed, represented by the pub-
licans and sinners on the one hand, and by the Scribes and Pha-
risees on the other. The case of the first is more specially and
directly pointed at in A, /^\, A, in which, so far from dispensing
with any of the commandments, he enforces strict obedience to
their smallest requisitions, and teaches that they extend to the
slightest movements of the heart : and of the second, in B, OB, B,
in which he shews that the spirit in which all and each of these
requisitions must be carried out in practice, requires a devoted-
ness in act (vi. 1-18), a singleness of heart (vi. 19-34), and a clear-
ness of spiritual discernment (vii. 1-12), to which those most famed
for sanctity among the Jewish people were utter strangers. Still
this more special application of each division of the argument to
one of the classes is far from being exclusive of the other. Much
in both divisions applies to both classes ; and more especially, as
we have already mentioned, a polemical attitude is maintained
throughout against the teaching and practice of his great oppo-
nents, the Scribes and Pharisees.
The five commandments of the Law, which have been selected
for illustration by our Saviour, have been so well explained by
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
223
several authors1 lately, that we would merely refer our readers to
their works, and confine ourselves to the light which is thrown on
their arrangement and connection by the Parallelism.
Let us examine verses 21-26 :
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
Ye have heard that it was said to* them of old time,
THOU SHALT NOT KILL :
And whosoever shall kill,
Shall be in danger of the Judgment :
But I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause,
Shall be in danger of the Judgment :
And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,
Shall be in danger of the Council :
But whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
Shall be in danger of the Gehenna of Fire.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, [thee,
And there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ;
First be reconciled to thy brother,
And then come and offer thy gift.
Agree with thine adversary quickly,
Whiles thou art in the way with him :
Lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge,
And the judge deliver thee to the officer,
And thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee,
Thou shalt by no means come out thence,
Till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
1 See Tholnck, Olshausen, Neander, and an admirable exposition by Trench, drawn
from the writings of Augustine.
8 In addition to other reasons, we believe that " to them of old time" is the only
grammatically correct interpretation of ippntn Tt7s a£%*!nt. No instance has beea
produced of a dative after a passive verb of saying or speaking having the signification
of by.
We have already endeavoured to shew, in the exposition of the Decalogue, how truly
spiritual and all-embracing the commandments of the Law are, when rightly under-
stood. The corrections therefore given by our Saviour did not apply so much to the
commandments themselves, as to the imperfect interpretations of their import to which
the Pharisees desired to restrict them. " But I say unto you" is opposed to " Ye
have heard," namely, from your teachers the scribes, and they would tie yon down to
the letter of the law. Christ has added no really new commandment to the Law,
which was not implicitly contained in it previously ; and yet he has so enlarged and
"fulfilled" or perfected all, that each has, in a very appreciable sense, become a new
224 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
In ver. 22'there is a beautiful gradation, marking the progres-
sive stages of guilt in the violation of the sixth commandment,
and the gradually increasing severity of the punishment which
attaches to each. There is an evident reference to three different
penalties inflicted among the Jews, the first by the Judgment, a
lower court established in every city (Deut. xvi. 18), consisting
of seven judges according to Josephus (Antiq. iv. 8, 14 ;) the se-
cond, by the Council, or Sanhedrim, the highest court of seventy-
two judges : while the third penalty, the fire of Gehenna, was the
concentration of every thing appalling and infamous in the eyes
of a Jew — the dead body being cast out into the polluted valley
of Hinnom, amidst all the carrion and filthy oifal of the city, to
be gnawed by worms, or to be slowly consumed by the fires which
were kept burning there day and night for that purpose. These
three grades of punishment are evidently employed by our Lord
as emblems of the punishments awaiting transgressors in a future
world. The Judgment, though the second of the Jewish courts,
was the first that had the power of inflicting death. To this
penalty, according to the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees,
a murderous intent, only when carried into act, rendered the
transgressor amenable. But our Lord teaches that there is a
murder of the heart as well as of the hand ; and that all mali-
cious feeling, even in its first beginnings of causeless anger in-
dulged in the heart, subjects the transgressor to death before the
judgment-seat of God, and to torments increasing in severity, ac-
cording to the intensity of the evil feelings cherished, as mani-
fested by their breaking forth into contemptuous language against
a brother (Raca — vain fellow !), or malignant revilings of him as
a godless wretch (Thou fool ! comp. Ps. xiv. 1.)
Neander has taken exception at this climax on the ground
that any gradation would " violate both the aim and the connec-
tion of the discourse according to which the smallest violation of
the commandment, as well as the greatest, subjects to death, as
involving the guilt of murder before that bar which looks only to
commandment: so that what John (1 John ii. 7, 8) has said of the law of love, may
be applied to each of the commandments — " Brethren, 1 write no new commandment
unto you, 'but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. Again, a
new commandment I write unto you," &c. .
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
the heart. Alford has well answered, " that there is no distinc-
tion of kind between these punishments, but only of degree. In
the thing compared, the Judgment inflicted death by the sword,
the Council death by stoning, and the disgrace of the Gehenna of
fire followed as an intensification of the horrors of death. But
the punishment is one and the same in all — death. So also in
the subject of the similitude, all the punishments are spiritual ;
all result in eternal death ; but with various degrees, as the de-
grees of guilt have been."
Neander would also strike out verses 23-26, as not properly
belonging to this context. His remarks are : " From verses 23
to 26 follow expressions of Christ, which the compiler of our
Greek Matthew has borrowed from other discourses of Christ.
Compare ver. 25, 26 with Luke xii. 58, 59, where they occur in
their natural connection." 1 Now, with all due deference to Ne-
ander's judgment, we must beg leave to doubt, whether the con-
nection of these verses with the previous context, is not as natural
and as intimate in Matthew, as in Luke. To enforce the neces-
sity of repressing the first movements of angry feeling against
our brother, if we would escape the loss of God's favour, or the
danger of our passion breaking forth into acts of ungovernable
rage, what could be more apposite than the manifest reference in
ver. 23, 24, to the case of Cain, reminding the sinner that no
" offering " can be " accepted " (compare Gen. iv. 7), so long as
our mind is in an improper state of feeling towards our brother.
Love to our brother is the best proof of our love to God ; and if
we would be accepted by Him, every defect in that love which
we owe to our brother, and of which he would have reason to
complain if he knew it, must, our Lord here warns us, be re-
moved, and quickly too (ver. 25, 26), lest the wrong done to our
brother make him our adversary, and like the blood of Abel, cry
for vengeance against us to the Lord, the righteous Judge, and
we be delivered over to those penalties, to which Christ warned
us (in a)» that the indulgence of anger renders the offender
amenable. •
But is there not further, we would submit, a parallelism be-
tween the whole of this division, 21-26, and the fifth Beatitude,
1 See the last Section. Essay on the Plenary Inspiration of Scripture.
226 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
which, would be obscured if these two last paragraphs, b and c,
were to be removed from this connexion ? It would be a striking
confirmation of our Lord's great thesis, " I am not come to de-
stroy but to fulfil the Law," if it could be shewn that the three
positive dispositions, which he begins his discourse with inculcat-
ing as the indispensable characteristics of his disciples, are identi-
cal with those which the Law itself had enjoined as the most
necessary. And such, we believe, will be found to be the case.
Does not, first, the great duty enjoined in the Sixth Command-
ment, " Thou shalt not kill," as explained and enforced by our
Saviour, in ver. 21-26, correspond with the first of the three Posi-
tive Beatitudes, " Blessed are the merciful" &c. ? The substance
of each of the three stanzas, a, b, c, might not incorrectly be
stated in terms of the Beatitude.
a (21, 22) " Blessed are the merciful," .
b (23, 24) " For they [alone] shall obtain mercy." Compare " I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice."
c (25-26) " For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewn no
mercy."1
The next commandment, as explained by our Lord (ver. 27-32),
as evidently corresponds to the second of the Positive Beatitudes,
" Blessed are the pure in heart," &c. ; and the third and last
Beatitude, " Blessed are the peacemakers," &c., has, we are in-
clined to think, a twofold representative, 1st, in verses 38-42, and
2d, in verses 43^48 ; or rather, it, and its corresponding negative
Beatitude which presents the other side of the same character,
" Blessed are the meek," &c., are provided each with its parallel
in these two stanzas. The former of these (ver. 38-42) inculcates
our negative duty towards the injurious, that we must passively
suffer any wrong or encroachment, and corresponds with the nega-
tive Beatitude, " Blessed are the meek :" the latter (ver. 43-48)
enjoins that active love which must be exhibited towards those
who are at variance with us, in order to overpower their enmity,
and bring them to true peace — peace with God and with man —
1 In the words of James (ii. 13), whose Epistle, if examined with care, will be
found, as we have already remarked, strikingly to correspond, in almost every topic,
•with the Sermon on the Mount.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 227
and corresponds therefore more exactly with the positive disposition
enjoined in the last Beatitude, " Blessed are the peacemakers :"
while to shew their intimate connexion, the same motive which
had been adduced to enforce the Beatitude, a For they shall be
called the children of God," reappears as the chief motive for love
to enemies, " That ye may be the children of your Father which
is in heaven," v. 45.
We have a farther indication of the intimate connexion of these
two last paragraphs (ver. 38-42 and 43-48) in the shorter for-
mula by which both are introduced, " Ye have heard that it hath
been said."
But it will immediately occur, no doubt, to the reader, as it did to
the writer, to inquire : However apparently just the inference from
these coincidences may be, how come the last three Beatitudes, which
in themselves form a perfect threefold whole, to be so irregularly
distributed among the five commandments cited by our Lord ?
Why is the succession broken by the intervention of the com-
mandment, " Thou shalt not forswear thyself," &c. (ver. 33-37) ?
And how do the whole five form one connected whole, as, from
previous examples of parallelistic arrangements, we expect to find
in them ?
Whether the answers which we can render to these questions
may be satisfactory, it is for the reader to judge.
The first thought that naturally suggests itself, on observing
that the first two commandments quoted are identical with the
first two commandments of the Second Table of the Law, is, that
perhaps we have here the Second Table of the Law presented in
its completed or perfected form, (" I am not come to destroy, but
^/.Tjswcrr/./, to fill up, complete, perfect the law.") The number of
commandments, too, is the same in each, five, seemingly with the
intention of leading us to refer the one to the other. Christ's
previous words also, " Whosoever shall break one of these least
commandments," &c. (ch. v. 19), though applicable, no doubt, to
those which the Pharisees chose to regard as of less importance,
and designated as " the jots and tittles of the law," would yet
have a special propriety, if exemplified afterwards by those which
even in Christ's estimation formed the lesser commandments, or
Table of the Law (comp. Mat. xxii. 37-39). Indeed, throughout
the whole Sermon there are clear indications that the duties
228 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
which our Lord had specially in view to enforce, were those to-
wards their neighbours, incumbent on all who would be his dis-
ciples. Thus we saw that according to one division of the Beati-
tudes (pp. 187, 188), grafted on the single root of Poverty of
spirit, were three pairs of graces, in each of which the first and
personal grace has for its indispensable complement and fruit, a
virtue having reference to others. Christ exhorts his disciples
(v. 13-16) to impart their salt and light to others. They are
enjoined (v. 19) not merely to " do," but to " teach" men these
" least commandments." The only remark which our Lord makes
on that model of prayer which he gave to his disciples, is for the
purpose of enforcing a forgiving spirit towards others as indispen-
sable to the acceptance of their prayers, as He had before (v. 23,
24) required the removal of every angry feeling towards a
brother as a previous condition to presenting any offering before
the Lord :
For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
Your heavenly Father will also forgive you :
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
Neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
MATT. vi. 14, 15.
And finally, the summing up of the main body of the discourse,
in which he declares wherein the true spirit of the law and the
prophets consists, is :
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
Do ye even so to them.
The presumption therefore is, that these five commandments
are the representatives of the Second Table of the Law, which
teaches our duty towards our brethren. The only commandment
of the five which is not clearly and indisputably of this character
is the third, " Thou shalt not forswear thyself," &c. ; but even this
evidently shews by its conclusion,1 that it refers to the mutual
communications between Christian brother and brother.
1 But let your communication be, Yea, yea ; Nay, nay ;
For whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
MATT. v. 37.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
We shall best be enabled, however, to judge of this connexion
by placing in juxtaposition the Second Table of the Law, as al-
ready given on a former page (p. 139), and the five command-
ments quoted by our Lord.
Tie Second Table of the Law.
A ( 1. Thou shalt not kill. J" Guardi<"> law of the Indi-
( vidual Life.
B) 2. Thou shalt not commit adultery. i Guardian law of the Fa-
) ( mily Life.
C 3. Thou shalt not steal. -? Guf **" !*w of *« NR-
( tional Life.
D 4. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
5. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house ;
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.
Nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant,
Nor his ox, nor his ass.
Nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
The commandments quoted by our Lord, MATT. v. 21-48.
f Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,1
| 1. Thou shalt not kill.
Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,
(^ 2. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,
© 3. Thou shalt not forswear thyself,
But shalt perform unto the LORD thine oaths.
C Ye have heard that it hath been said,
| 4. An eye for an eye,
And a tooth for a tooth.
©•!
Ye have heard that it hath been said,
5. Thou shalt love thy neighbour,
I And hate thine enemy.
1 The introductory formulas (Ye have heard, &c.), it will be observed, agree exactly
with the arrangement given : the first two corresponding with each other, and the last
two in like manner, while the central formula differs from both.
230 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Here the first and second commandments in each table are the
same. The central laws in each too are evidently identical
(D & P) : for as Christ came to "fulfil" or complete the law,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself," with the explanations given by
our Lord, will be seen to be only the fourth commandment of the
Second Table (D) in its Christian fulness and spirituality, all
" false witness " borne against our neighbour being now declared
to be false swearing against God, and breaking our oaths and
covenant unto the Lord, to whom we and our neighbour belong,
and before whom we have solemnly engaged to love our neigh-
bour even as Christ has loved us. Truth thus forms the centre
of both arrangements — " truth in the inmost parts" or heart.
Our Lord so far altered the sequence of the commandments, that
he might, as before in the Decalogue, indicate, by the position
which he assigns to the precept enjoining truth, the central place
which this virtue must hold in the discharge of every duty to our
fellow men. " Love " to our neighbour must proceed " out of a
pure heart." The most perfect truthfulness, as before the Lord,
in all we say and do, must intimately pervade all the relations
which we bear one towards another.
Three of the five commandments in each table being thus evi-
dently identical, the presumption is, that in the remaining two
adduced by our Lord, we have an equivalent for the rest of the
Second Table of the Decalogue.
And such, we believe, will be found on examination to be the
case. The last two commandments quoted by our Lord, " An
eye for an eye," &c. and " Thou shalt love thy neighbour," &c.,
as explained by Him, are, it appears to us, the " perfected" form
of the third great fundamental law, " Thou shalt not steal," which
guards the third constituent of the Life of Man. the Life of the
Kingdom or Community,
If it be asked, What then has become of the Tenth Command-
ment ? Has the most spiritual of all the commandments of the
Second Table of the Decalogue, — a commandment which seems
already to transcend the limits of mere outward law, and by lay-
ing its injunction on the very thoughts and springs of action of
the human heart, to anticipate that new covenant under which
God engages to his people to " put His law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts," (Jerem. xxxi. 33) — no representa-
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 231
tive or equivalent in Christ's perfected law ? None, we answer
most appropriately and significantly : no distinct, separate repre-
sentative is given of what forms the living principle which per-
vades and leavens all the commandments, as now transfigured and
glorified by Christ. This is the new, spiritualized form which he
imparts to each of the commandments. The check is laid no
longer on the murderous hand, but on the murderous thought
(ver. 21-26) — on the slightest indication of impure desire in the
heart (ver. 27-32) — on the selfishness which would steal and take
for itself, instead of giving readily to all, what has been bestowed
for the good of the whole (ver. 38-48) — on the untruthfulness
whjch requires any stronger confirmation than the simple Yea
and Nay (ver. 33-37).
Only four commandments of the Second Table of the Deca-
logue have thus their distinct equivalents. But to preserve the
significant number five (the complemental half of the entire De-
calogue, and which presupposes the other half as re-enacted with-
out change by Christ), the third commandment of the Second
Table of the Law, constituting the guardian law of the National
Life in its most elementary form, is represented on its negative
and positive sides by two commandments, relating to the duties of
the members of a state, the first in their individual, and the second
in their collective capacity. The first, or more negative law, " An
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," was intended, by the seve-
rity of the penalty attached, to prevent every violation of the rights
of their fellow citizens by members of the same community : while
the second enjoined the positive duty which ought to unite all the
members of the same community in mutual love to each other
(" Thou shalt love thy neighbour"), and in jealous defence of their
national life against every deadly opponent ("and hate thine
enemy."). Our Lord's comments on both of these laws are directed
principally against the perversions of them by the Scribes. Neither,
in its genuine and original import, has been abrogated by him.
The commandment, " Thou shalt not steal," lays down in its
simplest form the principle which must regulate the social duties
of men in both relations ; namely, that each must restrict him-
self to that which God has assigned to him as his possession, and
that none is to interfere with that which belongs to others.
For the enforcement of this principle in the first of these rela-
232 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
tions, that of the members of a state to each other, and as the
measure of punishment for each infringement of it, the com-
mandment laid down in Moses' legislation, is the law of strict
Retributive Justice — Like for Like — " an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth." Whoever violates the social rights of others,
as he hath done, so shall it be done to him. Whatsoever he hath
taken, let like be taken from him. This great fundamental prin-
ciple has undoubtedly not been repealed by our Lord. It forms
the basis on which the Civil Law of every country rests ; and the
magistrate is ordained of God to be an avenger executing strict
justice on each exactly as he has done to his neighbour, as a wit-
ness to that eternal righteousness of God, which, as our Lord
declares in a subsequent part of this discourse, shall be the rule
of God's procedure at the last day, " With what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again." Matt. vii. 2.
This law was designed specially and principally, as we see by
examining all the three passages1 in which it occurs in Moses'
law, as a direction to the magistrate to regulate his decisions in
awarding the due measure of punishment for every violation of
the law ; in its relation to the injured party, it was calculated,
even in its literal form, instead of fostering, to limit and subdue
the spirit of revenge which would always exact more than the
strict equivalent for the offence. Doubtless it implied a permis-
sion to the aggrieved individual to bring the offender before the
constituted authorities of his country, and to require compensation
for the injury which he had sustained. But it would appear from
the corrective comments of our Lord, that the interpretation put
upon the precept by the Pharisees had been, that it not only per-
mitted, but enjoined the injured party to demand full redress, and
represented (in accordance with the spirit of the world) the re-
sentment of wrong as proper and indispensable for the mainten-
ance of one's due place and rights in society. In opposition to
this perversion, Christ declares that the great law of his kingdom
is never to resist evil with evil : that instead of always standing
upon, and demanding, our rights, the meek, yielding, giving dis-
position must be that of his disciples.
The fundamental law of the "National Life, as if He had said,
1 Exod. xxi. 24; Lev. xxiv. 20; Deut. xix. 21.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 233
l;iid down in the Decalogue with regard to what belongs to others,
is, " Thou shalt not steal :" and when another has taken ought
which belonged to thee, Moses' law permitted, not required, to
receive equal compensation for that which had been taken from
thee : " but I say unto you," that the true spirit of this law is not
to ask this compensation, except when no gentler methods of re-
pressing your brother's wrong will avail. Not only shalt thou
not steal, or take unjustly what is not thine own, but thou shalt
not take that which is legally thine own. Be ready, at least ever
in spirit, to yield to injuries whether affecting, 1. your person
(represented by " smiting on the one cheek"), 2. your property
(" If any man will take away thy coat," &c.), or, 3. your liberty
(" Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile," &c.) :* and when
any thing has been taken from you, be not desirous to take that
which the law allows as an equivalent. If thy brother feels
himself in any way confined and restrained by thee, and should
be led by this feeling even to smite, or in any other way to make
demands upon thee, retaliate not. Nay, feeling thy self' strong
under the protection and blessing of Him to whom thou hast
committed himself, be ready, as the stronger, to yield to the
weaker. Give, out of thy abundance, to him whose state of desti-
tution asks it of thee. Not the taking, grasping, self-engrossing
spirit of the world must be that of my followers ; but the giving,
yielding, liberal charity, which " seeketh not her own," but her
neighbour's good. The spirit in short of this, the negative side
of the law for the life of the Christian community, may be sum-
med up in the words of Paul, " Kemember the words of the
Lord Jesus, how he said. It is blessed rather to give than to
take."2 (Acts xx. 35.)
1 These three examples form an anticlimax, descending from the greater to the less
injury :
1. Attacking the very person — and in person.
2. Attacking the property — and through the law— to use for the benefit of the indi-
vidual.
3. Attacking the rights— and through the despotic custom of the state— to use for the
public service.
2 The words and order of the original are, M«*a;<«i> «*•« ^«XX«> 3<J«»«u « X«/tC«»u».
Neander supposes that Paul may have borrowed these words from the passage before
us (Matt v. 39-42), and have condensed its substance into this aphoristic form. At
all events, they express in concise terms its spirit. The first word M«x«{ i«», " Blessed,"
234 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The second, or more positive law given by Moses for the consti-
tution of the National Life is, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour,
and hate thine enemy ;" the first clause requiring the members of
the community to be united closely to each other by the bonds of
love, and the second, jealously to defend their national existence
against every deadly opponent. That such was the original im-
port of this commandment appears from Levit. xix. 18, from which
the first clause is taken, " Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any
grudge against the children of thy people : but thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself." Here it is evident that the word
" neighbour," in its strict acceptation, refers to the Israelites,
since they are described in the first clause as " the children of thy
people." And though the latter words, " and hate thine enemy,"
are not found in as many terms in the Old Testament, there is no
need, if we will only take the words aright, and not in the sense
put upon them by the Scribes, to deny that they express the spirit
of it. " No one," as Trench has justly remarked, " need shrink
from allowing this, if only he will keep in mind that they were
addressed to Israel solely as the theocratic people, as having there-
fore no enemies but those who were God's enemies (Psalm cxxxix.
21, 22) — hating them therefore only as God hates them, — hating,
that is, the evil in them, and not hating any thing besides. The
precept was no concession to man's weakness, but a summons to
holiness, to a keeping themselves unspotted from the world that
surrounded them."1
This, however, differed widely from the interpretation of the
Pharisees, who taught that it was not only permitted, but en-
joined to hate all of another nation, simply because they were
foreigners, and who characterized them by such opprobrious epi-
thets as " dogs" and " sinners of the Gentiles," although their own
law already made exceptions with regard to certain nations (Deut.
xxiii. 7), and contained frequent intimations that God would one
day call all nations to the knowledge of His salvation (Gen. xii.
3 ; Deut. xxxii. 43 ; Psalm Ixxii. 17, &c.) As being in the
would seem to point to the discourse of the Lord, known as the Sermon of the Beati-
titudes or Blessings, (which hegin with the words Ma*«£/«;, " Blessed,") and the great
subject of which was to teach what is the character, which will render men truly
" Messed."
1 Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, by R. Chenevix Trench, p. 71.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 235
midst of nations, all of whom were idolaters and enemies of God
and holiness, the Israelites were to count them as their enemies,
and keep aloof from all connexion with them : still even in the
case of those wicked nations in Canaan, whom they were ordered
utterly to destroy, and " save alive nothing that breatheth," they
were taught expressly that it was only because this severity was
absolutely necessary for the preservation of their own national life
as a people of God, that this injunction was given ; " lest they
teach you to do after all their abominations which they have done
unto their gods :" (Deut. xx. 18) " so will the anger of the Lord
be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly" (Deut. vii. 4).
This severe injunction was not confined to foreign nations ; but
when any of their brethren tried to seduce them from God, he
was to become to them " as an heathen man," and be counted as
an enemy. " If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son,
or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is
as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve
other gods ; thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto
him ; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare,
neither shalt thou conceal him ; but thou shalt surely kill him ;
thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and after-
wards the hand of all the people (Deut. xiii. 6-9). It is the
same hatred and dread of sin that still speaks under the New
Testament, in those words of Christ, " If any man come to me,
and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and
brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple," (Luke xiv. 26.)
But under the law, in accordance with its character, the fear of
sin and of contamination from others to one's self holds the most
prominent place. That all-prevailing spirit of love, which, hav-
ing destroyed at the root the sin which is within man's own heart,
goes forth in the majesty and might of meekness to subdue all the
evil and enmity of the world without, it was reserved for the Gos-
pel of Christ to manifest and unfold in its fulness. The Gospel,
while it does not do away with any of the relations of society, yet
modifies and expands them. Through Christ, the middle wall of
partition betwixt Jew and Gentile is broken down ; and we are
taught, and enabled to regard with feelings of love, all, however
much opposed to us, whether as national or personal enemies, and
236 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
to seek their true and highest welfare. This all-comprehensive
principle of love, with which our Saviour concludes his enumera-
tion of the duties of the Second Table of the Law, sums up and
embraces in itself the whole, and gives the standard and rule by
which the application of the others is to be regulated. More espe-
cially it will be found to give Ithe positive fulfilment or comple-
tion to the negative law of the Social Life, " An eye ibr an eye,
and a tooth for a tooth." This law permitted self-defence, by an
appeal, if necessary, to the magistrate. So far from being annul-
led by our Lord, it is in the truest sense fulfilled and perfected.
In extreme cases, when every other method fails, a literal appeal
to the justice of the law is not forbidden ; but Jesus " shews unto
us a more excellent/' and, for most cases, much more effectual
" way." The great principle which it involves is the right of Re-
taliation : that is, of repelling injury from one's self. The only
legitimate object that one can propose to himself in exercising
this right is to disarm the injurious person : to render him, so
sensible of his injustice that he shall not repeat it. Now, our
Lord teaches us that we are never to return evil for evil — never
to resist evil in this sense. But in the higher sense, we are to re-
sist evil to the uttermost, to endeavour its entire extinction ; to
strive to render our brother so sensible of his injustice, that he
shall never repeat it. After therefore commanding us in the first
place, negatively, never to resist evil with evil, as this only aggra-
vates it ; — doubly, by our doing evil ourselves, and next, provok-
ing our neighbour to a second retaliation ; — but, on the contrary,
to exhibit the meek, yielding, giving disposition ; he proceeds,
secondly, to point out the positive mode of resistance to evil,
which his followers are to pursue : namely, as Paul, with an evi-
dent reference to this passage, has expressed it (Eom. xii. 21), to
" overcome evil with good." " LOVE TOUR ENEMIES." Love is the
only effectual means by which evil can be subdued and finally
overcome. This is the great method which our "heavenly Father"
has adopted for overcoming the evil in our hearts, by meeting and
outbidding every advance of evil on our parts by a still greater
and overpowering manifestation of grace and love on His own,
until for those who shewed the most inveterate enmity and rebel-
lion against Him, He even gave up His own Son to death to
prove His love and anxiety for their salvation. This is the high
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 237
and holy model which Christ calls upon his disciples to follow. If
we would be " the children of our Father who is in heaven"
(v. 45), we must not only passively exhibit a meek, unresisting
spirit of patience and long-suffering under every provocation, but
we must actively put forth every energy of love to outbid and
overpower every new excess of enmity and evil.1
SECTION XVIII.
To explain, however, more fully the reason why such promi-
nence is given to the National Life in our Lord's perfected form
of the Second Table of the Law, that two commandments are
assigned to it in order to illustrate it both on its negative and posi-
tive sides, and that these, in His arrangement (see p. 229) are made
to stand alone by themselves (©), and distinct from the Laws of the
Individual and Family Life (#\ and [IB), we must entreat the atten-
tion of the reader to a short historical detail ; by which it will appear
that now, for the first time, under the Christian dispensation,
was the world prepared for this life being adequately constituted.
God, under his three great remedial dispensations, the Noachic,
the Abrahamic, and the Christian, has been gradually training
mankind to the apprehension and due observance of their rela-
tions and reciprocal duties, beginning with the simpler, and ele-
vating their minds slowly, and as they were able to bear it, to
the contemplation of the higher and more complicated : but it
is not, as Mr Worsley2 has well observed, until the necessity for
the law has been brought out and felt by the deadly fruits which
its transgression produces, that God explicitly promulgates the
law. Fearfully had even the primary relation of Individual to
Individual been misapprehended and outraged in the antediluvian
world. This was exemplified first in the case of the original
1 Compare the illustration given of this passage in pp. 10, 11.
a We beg to acknowledge our great obligations to Mr Worsley for many of the
ideas and expressions in this Section.
238 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
brother-pair, when Cain rose up against Abel and slew him :
and so rapid was the progress of audacity in crime, that in the
seventh generation from Adam, Lamech, in the intoxication of
his triumph at the invention of the sword1 by his son Tubal-
cain, having resented to blood an affront put upon him, quiets
the fears of retaliation entertained by his wives by the arrogant
assumption to himself of a vengeance and power, now in his hands,
far mightier than God's :
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice !
Ye wives of Lamech, hearken to ray speech !
A man have I slain for his wound to me,
[Even] a young man for my hurt.
If Cain was to be avenged sevenfold,
Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.2
So wide-spread and incurable became the disregard of this primal
law of humanity, and so universal the corruption of mankind, that
nothing could avail but the entire extinction of the race, and the
recommencement of a new world with the only untainted family.
Murderous wrath, as we clearly gather from the narrative, was the
Master-sin of the Antediluvian World. " The earth was filled
Avith violence" (Gen. vi. 11). " And God said unto Noah, The
end of all flesh is come before me ; for the earth is filled with
violence through them ; and behold I will destroy them with the
earth" (Gen. vi. 13). Immediately after the flood, when now the
necessity for a restrictive law was made so fearfully apparent, God
issued His command, " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall his blood be shed " (Gen. ix. 5, 6). Under the Noachic dis-
pensation, accordingly, the Individual Life would seem to have
been reverenced and jealously guarded: for, from this period dates
the institution, prevalent among all early nations of the East, of
the God or Blood-avenger. Some beginnings, too, were made for
the constitution of the Family Life ; but there was an " entire
failure in the constitution of the Life of the Kingdom," as mani-
1 The literal translation of Gen. iv. 22 is: "And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain,
the sharpener of all cutting-instruments in brass and iron.'1
2 This poetical address, which Herder has styled " The Lay of the Sword," as being
commemorative of the first formation of that weapon, is remarkable as being the most
ancient specimen of poetry extant. It already exhibits all the distinctive character-
istics of Hebrew parallelism.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 239
fested by the division and dispersion at " Babel, the city of con-
fusion." *
The Family Life, however, did not receive its full and adequate
constitution till under the next economy, the Abrahamic, more
fully developed, in a subsequent stage, into the Mosaic dispensa-
tion. It is most interesting to trace how admirably every circum-
stance was adapted to beget in the children of Abraham the
family affections, and to lead them all to regard each other as
brethren ; and as the Abrahamic merged into the Mosaic eco-
nomy, how this family relation gradually extended and expanded
itself into the National. All the ties which connect and endear
men to each other were united in their case. All had one com-
mon parentage, and counted it their highest pride and honour to
be the children of Abraham. Fellowship in suffering and long-
protracted bondage in Egypt, drew still closer the ties between
them, and produced a community of interest and feeling, of hopes
and fears, which were doubly strengthened by their common de-
liverance, with all its wonderful circumstances. How innumerable
were the common bonds with which the Lord next encircled this
family, whom "only He knew of all the families of the earth" (Amos
iii. 2), that he might enlarge and elevate the sympathies of the
Family, into those of the higher and more comprehensive relation of
the Community or Nation ! One God, One Law, One Temple,
One High Priest : to them, as they could boast in exclusion of
all other nations, " pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and
the promises : theirs were the fathers, and of them, as concerning
the flesh, the Christ was to come " (Rom. ix. 4, 5).
Thus wonderfully have " the sympathies and views of this
people been woven together into one web," as has been observed
in a late interesting publication, that they might exhibit to the
world an example of the intimate union and mutual love which
are indispensable to the true constitution of the Family and Na-
tional Life. " It is a fact which is the miracle of history and the
wonder of the world, that the ties which unite this people seem
to be indissoluble. While other nations have risen, and reigned,
and fallen ; while the ties which united them have been sundered,
1 Worsley's Province of the Intellect in Reliyio*, p. 39.
240 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
and their fragments lost amidst earth's teeming population, the
stock of Abraham endures, like an incorruptible monument of
gold, undestroyed by the attrition of the waves of time, which
have dashed in pieces and washed away other nations, whose
origin was but yesterday, compared with this ancient and won-
derful people." 1
But although some provision was thus made under the Mosaic
dispensation for the constitution of the National Life, still it was
more on its outward side that it was regarded. There were wanting
still the internal law, and the living apprehension of the relations
and duties involved in this life, to train mankind to its worthy
observance. This the Gospel of Christ alone could supply.
The laws laid down by Moses for its constitution are, as we
have said, twofold : 1. " An eye for an eye," &c. ; and 2.
" Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy." Nei-
ther of these laws has been abrogated by our Lord. It is only
from the first being still in force that a Christian is justified
in demanding redress for any injury, however aggravated, or in
an extreme case, when his own life is threatened, in defending life
with life. The outward law, as given by Moses, still stands good :
but it is explained and modified by the internal Christian law
" ever dwelling, as it were, over against it, and exercising, with
regard to it, a friendly and corrective antagonism, that, namely,
of ACCEPTING EVIL, AND IMPARTING GOOD." 3 To this Christian
law we are enabled to render an intelligent and thoroughly cor-
dial obedience only by realizing and fully apprehending that new
and higher relation to which Christ has raised us, by which we
are taught to regard ourselves and our neighbours not as distinct
individuals with separate interests, but as members of the same
body in Christ Jesus. As in the material body, the sounder parts
often willingly take upon themselves the pain derived from a
diseased limb in order to lead to its cure,3 are ready to resign for
it part of their clothing and comforts,4 to aid it with their service,8
and in a word, to " give " to it all the assistance which its need
1 Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation. By an American Citizen, p. 22.
2 See Worsley, pp. 292, 318, &c.
3 Compare " Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him," &c.
„ " If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat," &c.
., " Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile," &c.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 241
'• ;isketli " 1 — so, by the new relation in which Christians feel
themselves placed through Christ, they that " are strong " are
enabled " to bear the infirmities of the weak," and to exhibit a
tenderness and sympathy, otherwise unattainable, towards a dis-
ordered and offending member, as if forming part of themselves.
The great distinction, therefore, between the outward law as given
by Moses, and the new law as given by our Lord, consists in this,
that the first " contemplates each member of the community in
his distinctness from all other members, while its corresponding
inward and specially Christian law contemplates him in his unity
with the other members." 2
The same is true of the second law given of old time for the
constitution of the National Life, " Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bour and hate thine enemy," and its perfected form as given by
our Lord. The former contemplates each nation in its distinct-
ness as an individual member of the great and ever-growing com-
munity of nations ; the latter regards it in its genuine Christian
and spiritual unity with all the rest.
Here, as in the previous case, there is no real contradiction be-
tween the new law laid down by Christ, and the older Mosaic
precept. Without the external law being still in force, no Chris-
tian nation would possess the right of defending its existence and
liberties against the encroachments of others by war. " Without
a law permitting and enjoining each nation to maintain the inte-
grity of its own national being against all assailants, to maintain
this integrity by no lukewarm and merely outward resistance, as
though our sense of right, or knowledge of God's will, were rather
dragging us back, than urging us forward in this warfare, but
with a most real and determined hostility, with heart and soul, as
well as life and limb and worldly goods ; — without this underly-
ing ground of a true Christian patriotism, there can be no full,
no worthy and final development of that real and universal
brotherhood among Christian nations, as well as Cliristian men,
in virtue of which brotherhood alone, it is possible for war to
cease among men." 3
• Christ, neither in his teaching, nor by his own example, sanc-
tions those shallow cosmopolitan views, which ignore all genuine
1 „ " Give to him that asketh tlice," &c.
3 See Worsley, p. 319. * lb»d P- 32°-
Q
242
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM,
patriotism. What love, specially to that people to whom, accord-
ing to the flesh, he belonged, breaks out often in such exclama-
tions as, " 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,
and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not \" (Matt, xxiii. 37).
" Preach in my name among all nations, beginning at Jerusa-
lem," (Luke xxiv. 47). The relation which the individual bears,
and the duties which he owes, to the country which gave him
birth, have not been abrogated by our Lord, but still remain in
their original force : they are only corrected and elevated by the
higher relation in which He teaches His disciples to regard them-
selves as placed. The Christian now forms a member of the great
spiritual community of Christians : in this new relation he re-
gards none as truly his enemies but those who are the enemies of
Christ and of his body : and even these, as they are still part of
God's great family whom He is using every means to reclaim, and
are yet capable of entering into God's kingdom and beiag made
" fellow-citizens with the saints," he is enabled by Christ to view
in this relation, and to exhibit to them a portion of that " per-
fect" (Matt. v. 48) and all-comprehending love, wherewith they
are regarded by their " Father which is in heaven." Keleased
from every narrow and exclusive prejudice, his enlarged heart can
embrace every individual of every nation, and in his lofty voca-
tion as Peace-maker, his prayers, and contributions, and efforts
are earnestly directed to hasten that blessed consummation when
" all the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of His Christ :" when " all shall be blessed in
Christ, and all shall call Him blessed."
Viewed in this comprehensive light, both senses of the word,
" enemies," will be found to coincide. Whether we regard our
national or personal enemies, the outward and lower law stands
good, " Hate thine enemy ;" but it is purified and perfected by
the inward and higher Christian law, " Love your enemies." An
enemy is one who would injure our wellbeing, whether in our
character as members of a Christian state, or as members of the
great spiritual community of believers. In either respect Christ
says to us, " Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalfc
hate thine enemy ; but I say unto you, Love your enemies." " I
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 243
came not to destroy, but to fulfil the law." Therefore, while I
still say unto you, in the true sense of the Old Testament, " Hate
your enemies/' those who hate and oppose you as being one of a
divinely constituted community, with the same hatred wherewith
you are called upon to hate all God's enemies, saying and feeling
like David, " Do not I hate them, 0 Lord, that hate thee ? I hate
them with perfect hatred" (Psalm cxxxix. 21), yet I say unto you
at the same time, Love your enemies. Hate that which is evil in
them. Love that which is good in them, or susceptible of being
improved into good. Hate them, as you hate, or ought to hate
yourselves for being evil : but love them, notwithstanding, as you
love yourselves. Hate the evil in them which opposes itself to
God's purposes and appointments, and fear not to extirpate it
unsparingly and unpityingly if necessary, just as you would hate
a diseased member of your own body, yet would cut off at last
only after long forbearance and tender reluctance to smite, when
your actual existence is endangered. In fine, the spirit of the
commandment is, " Hate your enemies," " Love your enemies,"
as God and Christ hate and love their enemies ; shewing the
most entire and uncompromising enmity to all sin, while yet you
are ready to give up all that is nearest and dearest to you for
their salvation.
Thus, for the first time under the Christian dispensation, could
the copestone be placed on the legislation which was to regulate
the Life of man in his third and highest relation as a member of
the Christian Nation or Community : and hence the peculiar pro-
priety of our Lord's dwelling so fully on the subject, and appro-
priating two commandments for its full and consummated consti-
tution.
In conclusion, if it be inquired, Is the whole Decalogue to be
understood as here re-enacted and confirmed by our Lord as binding
upon his followers ? We answer unhesitatingly in the affirmative.
If it be objected, What trace do you find of the First Table of
the Decalogue ? " How are you justified in assuming that to be
implicitly a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, which is thus
explicitly rejected from it T To this we reply in the words of Mr
Worsley, " The First Table of the Decalogue is not promulgated
by our Lord from the Mount, because it had already been promul-
gated in its fulness, in its permanent form and import, from Sinai,
244 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
the mount of God's earlier legislation ; and because it was not con-
sistent with the spirit of our Lord's teaching, that he should dis-
parage the inherent, and enduring, sovereign authority of any
portion of the divine law already given in its completeness, by a
mere repetition of all or any of the commandments contained in
that portion."1
" The First Table of the Decalogue, like the absolutely Holy
Being whose name it is appointed to guard, is the same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever ; it is not so with that Second Table, ordained
to guard this great and holy Name, not in its own abiding objec-
tive holiness, but as put upon man. whose being, essentially vari-
able and mutable, essentially capable, in God's order and under
God's methods, of an ever-heightening degree of spirituality, re-
quires, at one period of its development, a less spiritual, at another,
a more spiritual form and import to be given to the law under
which he has to live."a
This consideration we hold to be exceedingly important in its
bearing on one of the great questions of the day. If just, it
settles definitively the point, that the Sabbath is binding in all
the strictness of the Fourth Commandment on every Christian.
In incorporating into His legislation on the Mount, and giving
its perfected form to the Second and Lesser Table of the Law,
and rejecting from His kingdom whosoever should break, or teach
others to break, one of these least commandments, it is surdy im-
plied, a fortiori, that Christ has adopted and sanctioned in all its
integrity the Greater Table, requiring of his followers to keep
and observe, as unchanged and unchangeable, every thing enacted
in its commandments relating to the service and worship of His
Father. The commandment therefore stands firm to the Chris-
tian, sanctioned anew by his Lord, of observing the Sabbath in
its entire abstinence from all unnecessary secular work, and
undistracted devotion of every thought unto God, and to peaceful
and delighted communion with Him, that he may return purified
and invigorated by this hallowed intercourse to the occupations
of the world, and thus be prepared to engage in them in the true
spirit of the Christian requisition, " Whether ye eat or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
! Worsley, p. 129. J Ibid. pp. 171-2.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 245
SECTION XIX
In the second great division of Christ's argument to prove that
he " came not to destroy, but to fulfil the Law," he proceeds, as
we before remarked, to consider the practical side of the ques-
tion, how and in what spirit his disciples are to carry into prac-
tice what he has now taught to be the requisition of the law :
and in opposition to the three great defects of the Pharisees' right-
eousness, he requires, 1. a devotedness in act (vi. 1-18), 2. a
singleness of heart (vi. 19-34), and 3. a clearness of spiritual
discernment (vii. 1-12), to which the Scribes and Pharisees were
utter strangers. In this second head we find the same threefold
division as we have before shewn to prevail in the Beatitudes and
Lord's Prayer, but in the reverse order.
In all our righteousness, whether it respects, Body, Soul, or
Spirit — Hand, Heart, or Head — the supreme and universal refer-
ence must be to God. In all we do, and feel, and think, God
must be all in all :
1 . As to our acts. We must do all to be seen of God and not
of men. (vi. 1-18).
2. As to our feelings. We must love God alone, and not the
world. Our heart must be in heaven
and not in earth. We must seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteous-
ness, (vi. 19-34).
3. As to our thoughts or We must judge with a constant reference
judgments. to God's judgment ; striving first, before
attempting the reformation of others, to
clear our own inward vision : asking of
God spiritual discernment to " know good
gifts" from evil. (vii. 1-12).
Our Lord has in this second head reversed the order, and begun
with " doing" first (vi. 1), because the practical fulfilment of
righteousness was here the principal subject : and thus leading
our minds backwards from the actions to the feelings whicli
246 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
prompt them, and the thoughts from which these take their rise,
he ends with the spiritual discernment by which the Christian is
required to "judge all things" (vii. 1-12). Still, in order to
shew that this last is but a means to an end, he recurs back to,
and sums up all in the practical conclusion, " Therefore all
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them."
In each of these three subdivisions, there are certain points
connected with the parallelistic arrangements which deserve our
attention.
In the first (vi. 1-18), we have three pairs of two-lined triplets,
very similar in structure.
I. Duty to our Neighbour.
f Therefore, when thou doest thine alms,
} Do not sound a trumpet before thee,
J As the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
] That they may have glory of men ;
j Verily I say unto you,
(^ They have their reward.
But when thou doest alms,
Let not thy left hand know,
What thy right hand docth,
That thine alms may be in secret ;
And thy Father which seeth in secret,
^ Himself shall reward thee openly.
II. Duty to God.
And when thou prayest,
Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are :
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of
the streets,
That they may be seen of men :
Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.
f But thou, when thou prayest,
Enter into thy closet,
J And when thou hast shut thy door,
j Pray to thy Father which is in secret :
And thy Father which seeth in secret,
[_ Shall reward thee openly.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 247
III. Duty to Ourselves.
f Moreover when ye fast,
Be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance ;
For they disfigure their faces,
That they may appear unto men to fast :
Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward,
But thou, when thou fastest,
Anoint thine head, and wash thy face ;
That thou appear not unto men to fast,
But unto thy Father which is in secret ;
And thy Father, which seeth in secret,
^ Shall reward thee openly.
These three stanzas, relating each to a separate department of
human duty, exhibit a striking symmetry in form, and corre-
spondence in meaning and expression. In each, the first triplet
stands in direct contrast to the second : for whilst the first holds
up to our abhorrence the hypocrisy, which marred every act of
righteousness performed by the Scribes and Pharisees, the second
enjoins the diametrically opposite spirit, as that which must
actuate the true Christian. Still though thus differing from each
other, the first six lines of each stanza bear a close relation to the
last six. In the first stanza, for instance (and the same is true
of the other two), the first line of each triplet states the duty to
be performed ("Therefore, when thou doest thine alms": " But
when thou doest alms.") Then follows an exhortation as .to the
mode in which it is to be performed, by way of warning,1 espe-
cially what error ought to be avoided. (" Do not sound a trumpet
1 The stanza on prayer is no exception to this. " Enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door," implies a warning, that otherwise the secret thought might
steal in, that perhaps our private devotions are not altogether unperceived.
" Pray to thy Father which is in secret." The words " which is in secret" are not
superfluous ; but point to the motive which must solely actuate the suppliant. If God
seeth in secret, the prayer must be in secret. We Must retire into the innermost
chamber of the heart, and have our whole mind fixed singly on Him who seeth the
heart. In short, the same profound knowledge of the deceitfulness of the human heart
is here exhibited as in the startling paradoxical expression in the first stanza, " When
thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Oar
248 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
before thee, as the hypocrites do," &c. " Let not thy left hand
know what thy right hand doeth.") The fourth line assigns
the real motive1 in the respective cases of the Pharisee and
the Christian, to the discharge of the duty, (" That they may
have glory of men : " " That vthine alms may be in secret") :
while the last two lines assure us that each party " shall reap
as he sows." (" Verily I say unto you, They have their re-
ward." " And thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward
thee openly.")
In the arrangement of the stanzas, it is observable that the
duties incumbent on the Christian towards his fellowmen are
placed first, even before those that are due to his God. This is
in exact conformity with what we have seen to be the great
object of our Lord's discourse, viz. to perfect the Second Table of
the Law, which prescribes the duties which man owes to his
neighbour, to elevate the minds not only of his Apostles but of
all Christians to the contemplation of the high relations which
they are called on to bear to their fellowmen of being peace-
makers, charged to have the same anxiety and love for others, as
being members of the same family and body, as for themselves,
so that in the words in which he sums up the whole, they should
learn, in " all things, whatsoever ye would that men should do
to you, do ye even so to them."
Prayer is thus most appropriately made to occupy the central
place among the Christian's duties : and by this position, the
symmetry of the threefold arrangement is preserved, notwith-
standing the important additions (vi. 7-15) made to the section
on prayer, since the longer division is enclosed by two exactly
equal on both sides.
In the second subdivision (vi. 19-34), the first three stanzas
are closely connected together.
good deeds, it would seem, must be concealed even from ourselves. And is it not so,
when we examine more narrowly our own hearts? Even in those good deeds which
are done in secret from the world, do we not detecfoften the lurking thought, What
commendations would my fellowmen bestow upon me, did they but know my disinte-
rested benevolence? Much reason have we to watch over ourselves with a godly jea-
lousy, lest some such self-complacent thought mingle with and pollute our holiest
acts.
1 See the preceding note.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 249
19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
Where moth and rust doth corrupt,
And where thieves break through and steal :
1. J 20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt',
And where thieves do not break through nor steal :
21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
" 22. The light of the body is the eye:
If therefore thine eye be single,
Thy whole body shall be full of light.
2. <{ 23. But if thine eye be evil,
Thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
How great is that darkness I
[24. Xo man can serve two masters :
For either he will hate the one,
And love the other :
Or else he will hold to the one,
And despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
We have here a warning,
1. Against the double heart.
2. Against the double eye.
3. Against the double service.
The three stanzas .describe the effects of worldliness on each of
the three different parts of man's nature :
1. The heart will no longer love God, if seeking its treasure in
the world.
2. The spirit will no longer discern or know God, if darkened
by looking at worldly objects.
3. The powers will no longer serve him.
The heart here, contrary to every common rule (see p. 183) is
placed first. We have not, however, far to look for the explana-
tion of this anomaly. In the enumeration of the three great
defects of the pharisaical righteousness, the present section (vi.
'250 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
19-34) forms the central one which relates to the heart, whose
anxiety as to all worldly possessions it is its leading object to
repress. It was necessary therefore that the prominent place
should be assigned to the heart in the first paragraph.
The connexion of the three stanzas marks the close sympathy
between the three different parts of our nature.
1. If the heart's affections are diverted to earth, it is because,
2. The spiritual eye has permitted its brightness to be dimmed
by the entrance of worldly cares ; and,
3. The result will be the unavailing attempt to reconcile the
incompatible services of two opposite masters, God and Mam-
mon.
The connexion between these three stanzas, and the three which
follow, evidently is :
Ver. 25. Cease therefore to be anxious about the world. Why
such anxiety, for instance, about food and raiment, since God,
having freely bestowed the greater gifts, the life (a), and body (b),
will surely bestow the less — the provision necessary for their pre-
servation.
For (ver. 26, 27), as to food for the life, God provides even for
the fowls of the air (a) ;
And (ver. 28-30) as to raiment for the body, He provides for
the flowers of the field (&) ;
Therefore (ver. 31-33) be anxious about neither ; but let your
first and principal concern be the kingdom of God and His
righteousness.
Ver. 34 forms the conclusion from the whole.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
LV.l
25. Therefore I say unto you,
Be not anxious for your LIFE, what ye shall eat,
Nor yet for your BODY what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat ?
And the body than raiment ?
26. Behold the fowls of the air :
For they sow not, neither do they reap,
Nor gather into barns :
Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are not ye much better than they ?
1^ 27. Which of you by his anxiety can add one cubit to his life ? '
28. And why are ye anxious about raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ;
They toil not, neither do they spin ;
29. And yet I say unto you,
That even Solomon in all his glory,
b 1 Was not arrayed like one of these.
30. If then the grass of the field,
Which to day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven,
God thus clothe,
Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?
31. Therefore be not anxious, saying,
What shall we eat ? or, What shall we drink ?
Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ?
32. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek :
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of
these things;
33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
And His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you.
(34. Be not therefore anxious about the morrow :
For the morrow will be anxious about the things of itself,
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
We would suggest, for the reader's consideration, whether the
1 By this rendering, which is that of the best modern commentators, this line and
the next are brought into perfect parallelism, the former most appropriately closing the
first comparison ; and the latter introducing the second. For the metaphorical appli-
cation of measures of length to life, compare Psalm xxxix. 5, " Behold, thou hast made
my days an handbreadth," &c.
252 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
threefold arrangement of this latter division of the section may
not have reference to the three principal attributes of God (see p.
195), Goodness, Wisdom, and Power, corresponding to the Heart,
Spirit, and Power of the first division. The connexion of the two
divisions would thus be : Such being the effects of worldliness on
your own heart, knowledge, and power (ver. 19-24), beware of
giving way to it, since it will lead you to question the goodness,
knowledge, and power of your heavenly Father towards you (ver.
25-34). For;
1. Anxiety about worldly things betrays a distrust of God's
goodness, so clearly demonstrated in having already given us the
blessings of the life and body, nay, even in the care which He
takes in feeding the fowls of the air and arraying the lilies of the
field (25-30).
2. It implies a distrust of God's knowledge, as if He did not
" know" (ver. 32) that we " have need of these things" — an un-
discerning conception of God, such as only Gentiles, who know
not God, and therefore think that God doth not know, might be
expected to exhibit (ver. 31-33).
3. It shews a distrust of God's power. To each day He appor-
tions its trials, and for each He vouchsafes the power sufficient to
sustain them. To add to-morrow's burden to that of to-day is
temptingly to ask of God to impart more power than He has pro-
mised to bestow, as if we doubted the supply for to-morrow.
We come now to the third and last qualification of that
righteousness which Christ requires of his disciples, as necessary
to fit them for their great vocation of being His Peacemakers to
diffuse His gospel to all the earth, namely, the possession of true
spiritual discernment.
4.
5.
7.
8.
9.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 253
MAT. vii. 1-12.
1 . Judge not, that ye be not judged,
2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged :
And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
We must acquire spiritual discernment to judge,
1. How to give.
3. And why beholdest thou the mote that U in thy brother's eye,
But considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote
out of thine eye,
And behold a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ;
And then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye.
2. To whom to give.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs ;
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine ;
Lest they trample them under their feet ;
And turn again, and rend you.
3. What io give.
Ask, and it shall be given you :
Seek, and ye shall find :
Knock, and it shall be opened unto yon.
For every one that asketh receiveth ;
And he that seeketh findeth ;
And to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you,
Whom if his son ask bread,
Will he give him a stone ?
Or if he ask a fish,
Will he give him a serpent ?
If ye then being evil,
Know how to give good gifts unto your children,
How much more shall your Father which is in heaven,
Give good things to them that ask him ?
12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
Do ye even so to them :
For this is the LAW and the PROPHETS.
254 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
" Judge not, that ye be not judged." Not all judging in
any sense whatever is here condemned, for " he that is spiritual
judgeth all things," 1 Cor. ii. 15 ; and our Lord, in ver. 6, requires
of his disciples to mark those whose characters resemble dogs or
swine ; and in ver. 15-20 to " beware of false prophets," of whom
they are to judge " by their fruits." The judging here forbidden,
is all uncharitable judging — " judgment without mercy" — "judg-
ing before the time," forgetting that this world is the place for
mercy, and that so long as life lasts, the greatest sinner may re-
turn : judging others, in fine, in a different spirit from that in
which we should desire ourselves to be judged by Grod.
This section, we consider, forms an Epanodos, the leading pro-
position of which is the negative proposition, " Judge not (but
with mercy), as ye would not be judged ;" to which the positive
conclusion, or last member of the Epanodos (ver. 12) aptly corre-
sponds, " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them."
LOVE here, as elsewhere, forms the grand and final1 rule for the
Christian's guidance, and is " the fulfilling of the law," (see ver.
12). The intermediate paragraphs exhibit the usual threefold
division, and define more particularly the requisites for the attain-
ment of a just spiritual discernment.
" Judge not." Judgment is God's. In exercising your spiri-
tual discernment for the behoof of others, recollect that reproof,
not judgment — correction, not punishment — is your duty. As a
physician of souls, it is yours not to wound, but to heal — to probe
only to cure. In judging, therefore, in the only sense in which it
is permitted you, spiritual discernment must be exercised in three
different respects, to distinguish,
1. How to apply the remedy with the requisite skill and ten-
derness (ver. 3—5).
2. To whom to apply the remedy, so as not to waste your ener-
gies on improper objects (ver. 6).
3. What are proper remedies, or " good gifts" — a knowledge to
be attained only from personal experience of our own wants, and
the granted supply of the requisite blessings (ver. 7-11.)
1 Compare the final commandment (v. 43-48) of the other principal division of the
Mtbject of the Sermon.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 255
1. (vii. 3-5). We must learn how to apply the remedy. Here
the great rule is, " Physician, heal thyself." How unreasonable
and inconsistent to attempt the cure of others' sins, while sin still
darkens our own spiritual vision ! Be careful first to purge out
every defect from your own eye, and then only will you see clearly,
and have learned with the requisite tenderness, how to remove
any blemish from the eye of your brother.
2. (vii. 6). We must learn to discriminate the persons to whom
we are to apply the remedy. ft Judge," I have said, " none." Con-
demn no one as reprobate and beyond the possibility of grace :
still, you must discriminate such as, in their present state, are in-
capable of appreciating the blessings of the gospel. Its gifts are
" holy," and not to be profaned. Its truths are " pearls," and not to
be cast before those who would trample them in the mire. Con-
found not, therefore, our Lord exhorts, that unmerciful judg-
ment of others which I condemn, with that spiritual discernment,
which you must acquire if you would avoid wasting your energies
and endangering your safety, in casting away the offer of the gos-
pel before rabid persecutors, or sensual despisers of every heavenly
gift (compare p. 43). " The spiritual man," so far from not
judging of others in this sense, " judgeth all." He must learn
to be a discerner of spirits, to distinguish the nature of each case,
and the characters of all with whom he has to do.
3. (vii. 7-11). We must discriminate what are the proper reme-
dies for each case. See that your gifts are truly " good gifts" —
not stones to him who asks for bread, not serpents to him who asks
for a fish — not useless, not hurtful to the receiver — gifts bestowed
with a free, wise, and loving hand. But who is sufficient for
these things ? Whence should we, who are so " poor," have these
gifts to bestow ? We, who are so blind, find and lead the way,
without felling into the ditch, to the strait gate that leadeth to
life ? — « Cast the beam out of thine eye ! " Give" — that which is
holy — pearls — yet not to all ! — Anticipating the objection, the
Lord replies,
Ask, and it shall be given you :
Seek, and ye shall find :
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
" Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above" (James i.
17). " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
256 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
to all men liberally and upbraideth not" (James i. 5). " I coun-
sel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich : and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see
(Rev. iii. 18). " Freely ye shall receive, freely give" (Matt. x. 8).
God is ready to give all good things to them that ask Him, and
He can discern what is truly good. God's promises are bound-
less. " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" (Psalm Ixxxi.
10). " Prove me now, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it" (Mai. iii. 10), and then you will be enabled
" out of the good treasure of the heart to bring forth good things"
to others (Matt. xii. 35).
(vii. 12.) Strive then to be like God: and as ye would that
He should not judge you but in mercy, that He should treat you
tenderly, apply the remedy suitable to your particular case, give
unto you liberally and with wise discernment what will be truly
good for you, even though in your folly you should ask amiss, let
the same feelings actuate you in all your dealings with your fel-
lowmen. Measure to them the measure you would have meted
to yourself.
But while I say, All things whatsoever ye would that your
Father1 should do to you, do ye even so to your fellowmen, and
would make the boundless loving-kindness of your God the mea-
sure and motive of your treatment of your brethren, let the simple
rule for its application in each case be, in order to enable you
to enter fully into the wants and feelings of your brethren : Sup-
pose them placed in your circumstances, and you in theirs ; and
as " ye would that they should do unto you, do ye even so to
them ;" for in this great principle of love to man, as the expres-
sion of your gratitude and love to God for His infinite love to-
wards you, and carried out in the spirit which I have now
unfolded to you, may be summed up " the LAW and the PRO-
PHETS."
In the climax, so vividly depicting the growing earnestness
and energy that must characterize our pursuit of heavenly
blessings,
1 This seems evidently implied by the illative conjunction " Therefore — all things,"
&c.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 257
Ask, and it shall be given you :
Seek, and ye shall find :
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you,
there seems to be an evident reference to tbe threefold division of
our nature, Head, Heart, and Hand, which obtains in the Beati-
tudes.
We ask, because we are poor, and are conscious of our wants.
We seek, because we have lost, and mourn for the loss.
We knock, lest we should be excluded, and put forth every
energy, that we may gain admission into the kingdom of God.
This is the invitation to poor, lost, outcast humanity, — denied
free access to the tree of life, turned out into the wilderness of
this world, and banished from the paradise of God, — to ask, seek
and knock perseveringly for re-admission to the forfeited pri-
vileges.
Taken in connexion with the context, the exhortation is : In
all attempts to impart spiritual blessings to others, take care that
they be attended ever with the full consciousness and feeling of
your own deficiencies, and urgent efforts for their removal. " Give,"
the Lord had said, " that which is holy" to others, but not indis-
criminately. Give — but before you can give, you must yourself
have obtained.
1. Remember you are poor. " Ask, then, and it shall be given
you."
2. Your heart is estranged from God. You have lost the way
to the kingdom of God, and are wandering far from righteous-
ness. " Seek and ye shall find." " Seek first," and above all
things, " the kingdom of God and his righteousness."
3. All your energies are needed, not to force the way to the
tree of life — for Cherubim and a flaming sword have been placed
to guard the entrance, lest man should presumptuously attempt
to enter in dependence on his own strength, and " put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" —
but as an earnest suppliant, strive to " enter in at the strait gate,"
" knock and it shall be opened unto you." Thus only will you
be fitted to knoiv, to sympathize with, and effectively to administer
to the wants of others.
The Conclusion follows, which will be found to be eminently
practical, teaching us in every case to test both ourselves and
258 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
others by acts, by the fruit of our doings, and never to stop short
till we come to the consummation in deed. Like the other parts
of the Sermon, it consists of three divisions.
1. (vii. 13, 14). We are reminded that it is not enough to ask
the way to Zion, or to seek the gate : we must go forward and
knock, and not rest till we are admitted to enter in at " the strait
gate." The gate is mentioned first before the way that leads to
it,1 to remind us ever to keep the end in view, never to weary or
faint in the way, but " forgetting the things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those which are before," to be continually
pressing forward till we arrive at the goal, and secure admission
into the city and paradise of God.
2. (vii. 15-20). In judging of others, we are to look not at the
professions, but at the deeds of those false teachers who might
mislead us.
3. (vii. 21-27). In judging of our own conduct and advancement,
we are, in like manner, to look not at professions but at deeds.
The conclusion of the Sermon, it will be observed, returns back
again to its beginning, and sums up, in three practical exhorta-
tions, the substance of all that has been said.
1. " Enter ye in at the strait gate," &c. With the description
of the various stages of that narrow way that leads to this strait
gate, our Lord had begun his discourse. It is the narrow way of
that self-emptying, sin-mourning, meekly-suffering disposition, —
so opposed to the way of the world, — which, renouncing every sel-
fish and worldly pursuit, hungers and thirsts after righteousness ;
that difficult path which requires of man to be like his God, full
1 It seems surprising that commentators should so generally have misconceived the
figure here employed, when they had before them the parallel passage in Luke xiii. 24,
" Strive to enter in at the strait gate," which in the next verse (25) is explained to be
the door which admits into the kingdom of God, and (ver. 29) to the marriage feast.
As Tholuck and Stier remark, we rarely meet with gates which lead to ways, but a
way leads to the gate of the city or house to which the traveller is going ; when he has
reached the gate, he is at the end of his journey, and has but to " knock, that it may
be opened" to him (Mat. vii. 7), and that he may " enter," ver. 21, and v. 20. In
like manner, " the broad way that leadeth to destruction" conducts to " the wide gate,"
at which those who enter " go down" instantly " to the chamber of death."
A remarkable parallel is found in the Table of Cebes, ch. 12, cited by Olshausen.
'Ouxwv o^cf.t fuoav nvoc ftixgcc* xai ob'oi nva. <rgo *r,; fugas, rtTtt iu •roXu o^Aiira/, a/lAa
teniu 1^.1-yai fooivevrai. " You see then a certain small door, and a certain way lead-
ing to the door, which is not much frequented, but very few travel by it-"
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 259
of mercy, purity, and peace — " perfect even as his Father in
heaven is perfect ;" which permits no license to the pilgrim to
turn aside nor to relax, but requires of him, holding on his course
through persecutions and trials, to be obedient unto death. Our
Lord therefore, in conclusion, exhorts the Christian never to weary
nor faint, until the goal be reached ; and pressing at length
through that strait gate that admits to heaven, the last remains
of human frailty shall drop off, and the perfected saint, clothed in
the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness, shall be by Him " pre-
sented faultless before the presence of God's glory with exceeding
joy."
2. In the Body of the Discourse, our Lord had contrasted,
1. The teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees with his own v. 21-
48), and 2. Their practice (vi. 1 — vii. 12). The warning against
false teachers (vii. 15-20) refers to the former, and
3. The warning against trusting to profession in ourselves
without practice (vii. 21-27), to the latter.
The parallelisms in the two first paragraphs have already been
illustrated (pp. 57 and 213). For the illustration of those in the
last paragraph we are indebted to Bishop Jebb.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
Shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say unto me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ?
And in thy name have cast out devils ?
And in thy name done many wonderful works ?
And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you ;
Depart from me ;
Ye workers of iniquity !
" The poetical grandeur of this passage," remarks Bishop Jebb,
" is excelled only by its moral dignity : we should dwell with de-
light on the vivid personifications and rapid transitions, here con-
densed into a few words, if the solemnity of the subject and oc-
casion did not fill us with the deepest awe. On such a passage i
were injurious to offer detailed criticism. I shall only desire the
reader to contrast the loquacity of their confident appeal, with
260 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM,
the majestic brevity of our Lord's reply ; and to observe that each
clause of that reply is, in regular order, opposed to a clause of the
appeal :
a Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ?
a I never knew you :
b And in thy name have cast out devils ?
b Depart from me :
c And in thy name done many wonderful works ?
c Ye '' workers of iniquity I"1
We would only suggest in addition, for the consideration of the
reader, whether in this threefold division there may not perhaps
be traced a reference to the threefold division of our nature.
a. Have we not in spirit been eo enlightened as to be lights to
others ?
b. Have we not in heart been so purified, as to cast out impure
spirits out of others ?
c. Have we not in act been empowered to perform miracles ?
To which the Saviour replies :
a. My Spirit never knew you, nor savingly enlightened your
mind.
b. My heart and yours never drew nigh together.
c. My power never worked effectually within you.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man,
Which built his house upon the rock ;
And the rain descended,
And the floods came,
And the winds blew,
And fell upon that house ;
And it fell not ; for it was founded upon the rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
Shall be likened unto a foolish man,
Which built his house upon the sand :
And the rain descended,
And the floods came,
And the winds blew,
And struck upon that house ;
And it fell : and great was the fall thereof!
1 Jebb's Sacred Lit. p. 232.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 261
Au extract from Jebb's remarks on this passage will form an
appropriate conclusion to a commentary which owes its origin to
the valuable work of the Bishop.
" In these two connected stanzas, the language may be justly
termed picturesque. The marked transi tion in each of them, from
a long and measured movement, to short rapid lines, and the re-
sumption, at the close, of a lengthened cadence, are peculiarly ex-
pressive. The continual return, too, in the shorter lines, of the
copulative particle (a return purely Hebraic, and foreign from
classical usage), has a fine effect : it gives an idea of danger,
sudden, accumulated, and overwhelming."
" Some niceties of phraseology and construction in this passage
ought not to pass unnoticed. In the case of the prudent man,
our Lord says, ' / will liken Mm :' in the case of the foolish man,
'he shall be likened.' The distinction here woidd seem to be
studiously designed. When the wise and fruitful bearer is to be
characterized, our Lord HIMSELF institutes the comparison : when
the foolish and unprofitable listener, it is otherwise managed ; the
comparison is then matter of common fame ; he shall be likened;
as though he were unworthy of Christ's own personal attention.
With this may be compared a similar passage in 1 Sam. ii. 30.
Them that honour me, I WILL honour ;
And they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed.
"The verbal distinction in our Lord's discourse has been observed
by some3 who give it a milder, and perhaps, on the whole, a juster
colouring. For example, the following Scholium of Photius:
' To signify the impossibility of becoming prudent, without the
assistance and inspiration of God. Wherefore he saith, I WILL
LIKEN HIM to a prudent man, for the purpose of expressing, ' I
will give my assistance and co-operation, in order that his
buildings may neither fall, aor moulder away ! But of the fool-
ish man, he saith not I WILL LIKEN HIM, but HE SHALL BE
LIKENED ; as though he were to say, let him blame himself for
his rashness, and his punishment ; for when, by the pursuit of
virtue, he ought to have attained the kingdom of God, he has, by
meddling in wickedness, made himself a partaker of torment.
Thus the possession of virtue is accomplished by our own dili-
gence, and by the grace of God : but the practice of evil is super-
262 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM,
induced by viciousness of mind, and by an abuse of free will.'
Bengel pointedly says, ' Salutaria Deus ad se refert : mala a se
remove!/ [Whatever is good, Grod ascribes to himself : evil He
disowns.] Of this benevolent decorum, there are frequent
examples in the New Testament : it may be accounted a kind of
Euphemism.1
" Again ; in the case of the prudent man, we read :
And FELL upon . . . And it did NOT fall.
xai Kgoff'&vrfffov . . . xai OUK tirifff
In the case of the foolish man :
And STRUCK upon . . . And it DID fall.
xcti wgoaexo-^av . . . xal
"The verb irpsiriirru [to fall upon] is more forcible than
[to strike upon] : the rain, the floods, the winds, fell prone with
violence, upon the prudent man's house, and it did not fall ; they
struck, or impinged with less of downright impetuosity, on the
foolish man's house, and it did fall.
" The departure from strict verbal parallelism in the closing line
of the Sermon on the Mount, is beautifully expressive : in the
case of the wise man there is a most judicious return to the im-
moveable rock ; in the case of the foolish man, no final mention is
made of the sand : the rock remains ; the sand, we are left to
imagine, was swept away by the overwhelming deluge : no ves-
tige is produced, either of the edifice, or of the site on which it
stood ; and the last impression left upon the mind, is that of irre-
trievable destruction."2
SECTION XX.
The examples already adduced ought, I think, to be sufficient
to substantiate the correctness of the principles of arrangement
1 Bishop Jebb has devoted a whole Section to its illustration. Some of his examples
are Luke xii. 8, 9, and Eom. ix. 22, 23.
* Jebb's Sacred Lit., pp. 213-223.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 263
contended for in this volume, as regulating the composition of a
large portion of Scripture. But as I have occasion to know that
there are certain minds so constituted, as to admit with the great-
est difficulty the idea that the sacred writers should have given
attention to such minute particularities of number and order, it
may tend to disarm their prejudices, if I add a few passages taken
from various books of Scripture, which, by the application of the
principles of parallelism, fall at once naturally and without con-
straint into definite order. Several of these examples shall be
taken from German authors, who have been following the same
course of investigation. The very circumstance, that different
minds have, without communication, arrived at similar conclu-
sions, goes far to prove that these are no fancies of an individual
speculator carried away by his own imaginations, but that they are
legitimately deducible by sound induction from the Word of God
itself.
As an instance of an arrangement somewhat different from any
of the preceding, and proving that attention was paid to the num-
bering of the verses so early as the days of Moses, I shall first give
the valedictory song which he composed and delivered to the
Israelites immediately before his death. In this noble composi-
tion, we have summed up and concentrated in one point the whole
work of Moses' life and mission, which was a ministration of con-
demnation, intended to shut up his countrymen unto the salva-
tion to come. It consists of three strophes, the first and last each
of eighteen verses, with a central strophe of seven verses.
Strophe I. (1-18) contrasts the perfectly holy and righteous
character of God (A), and the tender paternal love which He has
shewn to Israel (A), with the unholy and unrighteous character
of his people (B), and the ungrateful return which the hardness
of their hearts will make for all His benefits (B}.
Strophe II. (19-25) warns them of the fearful retribution which
will overtake them for their rejection of God — of their rejection
by Him, and the substitution of another people, whom He will
take for himself in their stead.
Strophe III. (26-43; reveals the ultimate end of God's dealings
with His people, viz. that, while looking to the character of Israel,
they deserve utter extermination (C and (7), yet looking to His
own character and the glory of His Name, His rejection of them
264 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
will not be final (D and D) ; but after His judgments have ac-
complished their intended purpose of working in them, beyond
every other people, a deep and settled conviction that Jehovah is
the alone source of exaltation and depression, He will at length
have mercy upon them, take them again as His people, cause His
dealings with them to redound to the salvation of all nations, and
put down every enemy of His kingdom and people.
THE SONG OF MOSES.
DEUT. xxxu. 1-43.
1. Give ear, 0 ye heavens, and I will speak ;
And hear, 0 earth, the words of my mouth.
2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain,
My speech shall distil as the dew ;
As the small rain upon the tender herb,
And as the showers upon the grass :
3. Because I will publish the name of the LORD ;
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
A. Character of God.
4. THE RocK1 — his work is perfect :
For all his ways are judgment :
A God of truth and without iniquity,
Just and right is He.
B. Character of Israel.
5. Corruption — in him ? Nay. His children are their own blemish !
A generation perverse and crooked !
A. God's Treatment of Israel.
6. Do1 ye thus requite the LORD,
O foolish people and unwise ?
Is not he thy father that hath bought thee ?
Hath he not made thee and established thee ?
1 The Masorotes would almost appear to have been aware of the division here given,
since they distinguish the first word of v. 4, " the Rock," by a very large letter, and
the first of v. 6 by another.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 265
7. Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations :
Ask thy father — and be will shew thee ;
Thy elders — and they will tell thee :
8. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the people
According to the number of the children of Israel.
9. For the LORD'S portion is his people ;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
1 0. He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness ;
He led him about, he instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11. As an eagle stirreth up her nest,
Fluttereth over her young,
Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,
Beareth them on her pinions :
12. So the LORD alone did lead him,
And there was no strange god with him.
13. He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
That he might eat the increase of the fields ;
And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,
And oil out of the flinty rock ;
14. Butter of kine and milk of sheep,
With fat of lambs,
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the fat of kidneys of wheat ;
And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
B. IsraeFs Treatment of God.
1 5. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked :
Thou art waxen fat, waxen gross, overgrown with fatness ;
Then he forsook God which made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
1 6. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods,
With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God:
To gods whom they knew not,
To new gods that came from their neighbours,
Whom your fathers feared not.
18. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,
And hast forgotten God that formed thee.
266 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
n.
The fearful retribution awaiting Israel from God.
19. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them,
Because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
20. And he said, I will hide my face from them,
I will see what their end shall be :
For they are a very froward generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
21. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God ;
They have provoked me to anger with their vanities :
And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people ;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22. FOR A FIRE IS KINDLED IN MINE ANGER,
AND SHALL BURN UNTO THE LOWEST HELL,
AND SHALL CONSUME THE EARTH WITH HER INCREASE,
AND SET ON FIRE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS.
23. I will heap mischiefs upon them ;
I will spend mine arrows upon them.
24. They shall bo burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat,
And with bitter destruction :
I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25. Without, the sword shall bereave,
And in the innermost chambers, terror ;
Both the young man and the virgin ;
The suckling with the man of gray hairs.1
IIL
The end of Israel.
C. Extermination — were IsraeVs desert alone regarded.
26. I said, I would scatter them into corners,
I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men :
D. Ultimate mercy — because God's own glory is involved.
27. Were it not that I feared the provoking of the enemy,
Lest their enemies should behave themselves strangely,
And lest they should say, Our hand is high,
And the LORD hath not done all this.
1 See p. 21.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 267
C. Reasons for C.
1. Israels folly.
28. FOR they are a nation void of counsel,
Neither is there any understanding in them.
29. O that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end 1
30. How should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their Rock had sold them,
And the LOUD had shut them up?
81. For their rock is not as our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves being judges.
2. Israel's corruption.
32. For their vine is of the vine of Sodoin,
And of the fields of Gomorrah :
Their grapes are grapes of gall,
Their clusters are bitter :
38. Their wine is the poison of dragons,
And the cruel venom of asps.
34. Is not this laid up in store with me,
And sealed up among my treasures ?
85. To me belongeth vengeance and recompence ;
Their foot shall slide in due time :
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things that shall come upon them make haste.
D. Reasons for D.
God must manifest in Israel the opposite ends of judgment :
1. When directed against his own people.
36. FOR the LORD shall judge his people —
And [then] repent himself for his servants,
When he seeth that their power is gone,
And there is none left, bond nor free.
37. And he shall say, Where are their gods?
Their rock in whom they trusted ?
38. Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink-offerings ?
Let them rise up and help you,
And be your protection.
89. See now that I, even I, am He ;
And there is no god with me.
I kill, and I make alive ;
I wound, and I heal :
Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
268 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
2. When directed against irreclaimable enemies.
40. For I lift up my hand to heaven,
And say, I live for ever.
41. Jf I whet my glittering sword,
And mine hand take hold on judgment ;
I will render vengeance to mine enemies,
And will reward them that hate me.
42. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
And my sword shall devour flesh :
With the blood of the slain and of the captive ;
From the heads of the chiefs of the enemy.
43. Rejoice, O ye nations, his people :
For he will avenge the blood of his servants,
And will render vengeance to his adversaries,
And will be merciful unto his land, to his people.
•The first strophe consists of 18 verses, which are thus subdi-
vided. Moses begins (ver. 1-3) with " calling heaven and earth
to record against Israel " (see Deut. xxxi. 28), and to attend, if
his people will not, to the divinely inspired warning which he is
about to utter, which, to all who have ears to hear, is calculated
to drop as the rain on the tender plants, and to produce the plen-
tiful fruits of righteousness : for, ver. 3, the subject of his song is
the praise of the great and terrible name of the Lord, who will be
glorified in every event, both by His judgments and by His
mercies.
After this short introduction, he proceeds in ver. 4 and 5 to
contrast the opposite characters of God, and of the children whom
He has adopted.
A. ver. 4. God in himself, and in all His dealings, however
severe, with His people, is and will prove himself to be the ROCK
— immovable, unchangeable, their sole refuge. All His ways are
judgment : a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right
is He. Like himself, His work is perfect : if it be marred, the
fault is not in him. Hence the contrast in
B. ver. 5. " Is there corruption in Him P1 Nay. His children
1 Such, as the Masoretic accents shew, seems to be the correct translation of this
passage. See Commentaries ad Canticum Jlosis, cura C. Vitringae. Pp. 43-49.
Theoloyischer Continental' zuin Pentateuch. Yon. M. Bauuigarten. 1844, &c.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 269
are their own blemish." They are " perverse," not " just • "
" crooked," not " right." '
These two propositions are then taken up successively, and en-
larged on in two stanzas descriptive of the very opposite treat-
ment of Israel by God, and of God by Israel ; viz. :
A in A ( 6-14), 9 verses, forming, -with ver. 4, . 10 verses ;
B in B (15-18), 4 verses, forming, with ver. 5, . 5 verses :
so that the righteousness and goodness of God to Israel are thus
dwelt upon twice as fully, as the unrighteousness and perverseness
of Israel towards Him. In accordance with this, it seems to be,
that ver. 4, which introduces the subject of God's righteousness,
consists of four lines, while that describing Israel's unrighteous-
ness (ver. 5) consists only of two.
The end of A is marked by a five-lined stanza (ver. 14), the
last line of which standing apart by itself forms a full cadence
and pause (see p. 26), before passing on to contrast the treatment
of the Lord by His ungrateful people. This is the only five-lined
stanza in the song with the exception of ver. 39, where it is em-
ployed, in like manner, to mark the close of a previous subject,
where the transition is to be made from the direct address to
Israel, now thoroughly humbled and brought to a sense of God's
all-directing providence, to the vengeance which God shall take
upon their enemies, and the call to the Gentiles to acquiesce and
rejoice in the restoration of Israel, as fraught with blessings to
themselves. This may be accidental : yet we have already seen
instances where changes in the stanzas were intended to point out
to the reader the transitions in the sense.
STROPHE II.
The beginning of the central strophe is marked by the transi-
tion to " the LORD," ver. 19, from " Jeshurun," which had begun
B. Its verses from the sacred number seven, divided, as usual,
into 3, 1, 3. Its central verse (22) forms the central verse also of
1 In the Hebrew *v* yashar, right, straight, in allusion to which they are called
afterwards, ver. 15, " Jeshurun," yi-un yeshuroon, the " right, or righteous people,"
which, by their profession as God's people, they were bound to be, and shall yet on«
day become.
270 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
the entire song, the very focus and point of concentration of the
whole, when God's wrath is represented as kindled to the utter-
most, and reaching down to the inmost centre of the earth.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
And shall burn unto the lowest hell,
And shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
•>
To a people accustomed to trace a symbolical meaning in num-
bers, no more significant number could have been chosen for such
a purpose than 22, the point where the Hebrew Alphabet reaches
its climax. It is enclosed by three times seven verses on either
side.
STROPHE III.
The last strophe, like the first, contains two propositions, C and
D, the first relating to the character of Israel, and the second to
that of God : and these two are in like manner enlarged on in two
divisions, C and D, so that the third strophe is parallel and anti-
phonal to the first.
C. (ver. 26). I said, I would scatter them into corners, &c.
that is = They deserve utter extermination.
D. (ver. 27). Were it not that I feared the provoking of the enemy, &c.
that is = But the glory of my name requires that mercy should
triumph over justice.
These two propositions are then enlarged upon and enforced each
by two topics or reasons in 8 verses, C and D, which are subdi-
vided into 4 and 4, beginning each with FOR.
C = They deserve utter extermination (ver. 26).
C. FOR, 1st, v. 28. They are a nation void of counsel, &c.
v. 29. O that they were «?ise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end !
that is, the fearful end, or doom, to which their infatuated con-
duct will lead them ; referring to ver. 20, " I will see what their
end shall be." !
1 An additional proof, were such needed, that the " nation" here described is that of
the Israelites, and not their enemies, as Castalio and other commentators maintain.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
V. 30. How can they be so devoid of understanding — exclaims
Moses, transferring himself in thought into those future times as
if he were a spectator of the calamities of his people — how is it
that they do not perceive, that the reversal of the promise made
to them of superiority over their enemies (Levit. xxvi. 8, comp.
Deut. xxviii. 25), by their enemies, on the contrary, being so far
superior to them, is owing not to the might of their adversaries,
but to the LORD'S having " shut them up" in their hands ! How
can they be guilty of the very error into which their idolatrous
enemies are prone to fall, saying, ver. 27, " Our hand is high, and
the LORD hath not done all this," since ver. 31, " their rock is not
as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges !"
FOR, 2dly, v. 32, 33, they are become entirely corrupted !
But, v. 34, their iniquity is treasured up before God (comp.
Job xiv. 17, Hos. xiii. 12, Rom. ii. 5) against the day of wrath and
vengeance, which, v. 35, shall overtake them in due tune, and
shall make haste and not tarry.
D. But the glory of my name requires, that mercy should
finally triumph over justice, (ver. 27).
D. FOR, 1st. v. 36, " the LORD shall judge1 his people" for their
rebellion : but when his judgments shall have accomplished their
intended purpose in leading them to acknowledge God's hand in
every event that befals them, then He will " repent himself for
1 It has been a question much contested among critics whether " judge" is here to
bp taken in an unfavourable or favourable sense, as the verb "p*, deen, is used in both :
sec Gen. xv. 14, and Psalm liv. 3 (1). The unfavourable meaning, however, is we
think proved to be the true one by the definite connexion thus given to the latter part
of the song, and by the beautiful antithesis produced between the two lines,
For the Lord shall judye his people [for their rebellion] ,
And [then] repent himself for his servants,
which tallies most aptly with the confession which on their conversion will be extorted
from Israel :
See now that. I, even I, am He : &c-
I kill — and I make alive ;
I wound — and I heal ;
that is, both judgment and mercy belong to the Lord.
Did any doubt, however, remain, it would be dissipated by reference to Heb. x. 30,
where the unfavourable sense alone is apposite, as the author is warning the Hebrew
Christians against apostasy. " For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth
unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his peo-
ple. It is a fearful thing to fall [for judgment or vengeance] into the hands of the
living God."
272 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
his servants." This, however, will not be until they are brought
so low that all hope shall seem to be at an end (v. 36), till God,
by His long abandonment of them, shall have seemed deaf to their
cries for help, and to have referred them, like their fathers of old
(see Judg. x. 13, 14), to the vanities which they have chosen, for
deliverance from their evils (ver. 37, 38) : until at length they
shall have indelibly engraven upon their own hearts the convic-
tion, and be prepared to teach to all the nations the truth which
they are, alas ! so slow to learn, that every event and thing, whe-
ther prosperous or adverse, life and death, health and pestilence,
success and defeat, all are to be referred to the immediate and
direct agency of Him " who worketh all in all" — without whom
" a sparrow falleth not to the ground," and by whom " the very
hairs of our heads are all numbered." (Ver. 39).
FOR, 2dly, (ver. 40-42), every enemy who exalteth himself
against the LORD must be humbled. If not even his own people
shall escape judgment, how fearful will be the vengeance which
shall overtake his adversaries, who will take no warning from His
dealings with His people whom He has set up on high to be a
light and a beacon to others, or who, instead of sympathizing with
them, take delight in their persecutions and sufferings !
The song accordingly concludes with a call to all the nations to
rejoice in the mercies which the Lord has in store for Israel, since
their own blessings are intimately involved in theirs.
" Rejoice, 0 ye nations,1 his people" — if now by Israel's rejection
taken for a time to be God's people (see ver. 21), much more so
by their restoration, if only they are taught wisdom and submis-
sion by God's dealings with Israel ; for " if the fall of them be
the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them, the riches of
the Gentiles ; how much more their fulness !"
1 There is nothing in the Hebrew answering to the word " with'11 inserted by
our translators, or to the f^tra of the Seventy, whose version St Paul follows in
Rom. iv. 10 : but the meaning is substantially the same, as the call addressed to the
Gentiles " Rejoice, 0 ye nations," must be understood in connexion with the announce-
ment just made of God's ultimate mercy to Israel, and is equivalent to Rejoice along
with Israel.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 273
SECTION XXI.
Our next example shall be Deborah's Song of Triumph (Judges
v.), on occasion of the signal victory which Israel obtained over the
forces of Jabin king of Canaan, who "for twenty years had mightily
oppressed the children of Israel," and whose army was commanded
by Sisera, a general terrible for his valour and conduct. This
noble burst of patriotic song may challenge comparison with the
finest specimens of lyric composition of any age or country. The
strophical arrangement is that given by Bertheau, in his Commen-
tary on the Book of Judges, contained in vol. vi. of the "Kurzgefass-
tes exegetisches Handbuch zum Alten Testament." The translation
is modelled after the spirited version of Milman, to imitate in some
degree the rhythmical flow of the original ; but follows still more
closely the Hebrew, preserving, as nearly as the idiom of the Eng-
lish language will permit, the very order of the words, and the
characteristic expressions and repetitions in the original language.
The song is most symmetrically divided into three strophes, of
three times three verses each, with an introductory and conclud-
ing verse at the beginning and end, out of the regular rhythmical
structure (vv. 1 and 30), while the commencement and close of
the central strophe are in like manner distinguished by a self-ex-
citing apostrophe, addressed by the poetess to herself (ver. 11, and
ver. 20, last line), standing out from the regular structure of the
poem.
After the introductory verse, the first strophe describes the
state of Israel previous to the victory : the first three verses (2-4)
looking back to the glories of Israel's first separation as a people
by the mighty God of Israel ; the second three (5-7), to the
times of hostile oppression, consequent on their desertion of God ;
the last three (8-10), summoning all classes to join in a song of
praise for the happy change. This strophe may be regarded as
introductory, since the song of triumph begins properly with the
second strophe.
The central strophe is preceded by an animated apostrophe of
Deborah to herself and Barak, as the leaders of the triumph
274 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
(v. 11). She then in three stanzas, each of three verses (12-20),
gives a glowing description of the mustering of the tribes, and of
the battle, — and lastly, scarce pausing for an instant at the deci-
sive moment of the fight, in a single line1 to excite herself to a
fresh outburst of song, she hurries on in Strophe III. (21—29), to
describe the flight and entire discomfiture of the hostile army,
and the miserable end of its chief — summing up the whole in the
concluding verse (v. 30) with a solemn invocation to Jehovah to
overwhelm with like destruction all His enemies, and to vouchsafe
a glorious triumph to them " that love Him."
I.
1. For the leaders taking the lead in Israel,
For the people offering themselves freely,
Praise ye Jehovah !
2. Hear, O ye kings ! give ear, ye princes !
I to Jehovah, I will lift the song,
I will sound the harp to Jehovah, God of Israel.
3. Jehovah ! when thou earnest forth from Seir,
When thou marchedst out from the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also poured down,
Yea, the clouds poured down waters !
4. The mountains quaked before Jehovah,
Yonder Sinai, before Jehovah, God of Israel !
5. In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
In Jael's days, untrodden were the highways,
Through winding by-paths stole the travellers.
6. Ceased had the leaders in Israel, they ceased,
Until that I, Deborah, arose,
Till that I arose, a mother in Israel.
7. They chose new gods :
THEN — war was in their gates !
Was buckler seen, or lance,
Among forty thousand in Israel?
8. My heart is to the nobles of Israel !
To those who freely offered themselves of the people 1
Praise ye Jehovah !
1 Attached to v. 20, and not forming a separate verse, -which would have deranged
another symmetry in the numbers, on which I shall remark afterwards, as confirmative
of the correctness of Berlheau's arrangement.
SG'UIPTUttE PARALLELISM. 275
9. Ye that ride ou snow-whiu- asses,
Ye that sit at ease on couches,
Ye that plod on foot the way — catch up the song
10. From the voice of the archers by the watering places :
There they recite the righteous deeds of Jehovah,
The righteous deeds of his rulers in Israel.
THEN — came down to the gates the people of Jehovah !
II.
1 1 . Awake, awake, Deborah !
Awake, awake, utter a song !
Rise up, Barak, and lead thy captives captive, thou son of Abinoam :
1 2. THEN — " Come down [I said], ye remnant of nobles, of people !
41 O Jehovah, come down for me, amidst the mighty !"
13. Out of Ephraim [came] those whose dwelling is by Atnalek ;
After thee [came] Benjamin, amongst thy host ;
Out of Machir came down the rulers ;
From Zebulon, those that bore the leader's staff.
14. And one were the princes of Issachar with Deborah ;
Issachar and Barak were as one :
They burst into the valley on his footsteps.
By the water-channels of Reuben,
Great were the proposings of hearts ! —
15. Why sat'st thou still amid thy sheepfolds?
To listen to the bleatings of the flocks ?
At the water-channels of Reuben,
Great were the exposings of hearts !
16. Gilead lingered on the farther shore of Jordan ;
And Dan, why tarried he by his ships ?
Asher sat still on the ocean-strand,
And harboured secure in his creeks.
17. But Zebulon was a people that risked their souls unto death,
And Naphtali, on the high places of the field.
1 8. On came the kings — they fought :
THEN — fought the kings of Canaan,
By Taanach, by Megiddo's waters :
No prize of silver won they !
19. From the heavens they fought —
Fought, in their courses, the stars against Sisera :
20. The river Kishon swept them away,
That river of battles, the river Kishon.
Tread on, my soul, in might !
276 - SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
III.
21. THEN — stamped the hoofs of the horses,
At the headlong flight, at the flight of the mighty.
22. " Curse ye Meroz," said the angel of Jehovah,
" Curse ye bitterly them that dwell therein ; "
Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,
To the help of Jehovah, amid the mighty.
23. Blest above women be Jael,
"Wife of Heber the Kenite !
Above all women in the tent, let her be blessed 1
24. Water he asked — she gave him milk,
The curdled milk she reached, in her costliest bowl.
25. Her hand to the tent-pin she set,
Her right hand to the workman's hammer ;
And Sisera she smote — she clave his head ;
She bruised — she pierced his temples :
26. At her feet he bowed ; he fell ; he lay ;
At her feet he bowed ; he fell :
Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
27. From the window looked forth and cried
The mother of Sisera, through the lattice :
" Wherefore delayeth his chariot to come ?
" Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?"
28. The wise of her noble ladies replied,
Yea, she returned to herself reply :
29. u Have they not found, not shared the spoil ?
" One maiden — two maidens, for every warrior?
" A spoil of coloured garments for Sisera,
" A spoil of coloured garments, of broidery,
'• A coloured garment — two broidered robes, for the necks of the
spoiler ?"
30. So perish all thine enemies, O Jehovah!
And they that love him be as the sun — when he goeth forth in his
might !
STROPHE I.
The State of Israel previous to the Victory.
The poem opens with an introductory verse, calling upon all
the Israelites to praise the Lord for the new spirit of courage and
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
self-devotion infused into rulers and people. Then, in three
times three verses, the prophetess describes the state of Israel pre-
vious to the victory.
In the first three verses (2-4), she calls upon the neighbouring
princes and all the mighty of the earth to listen in submission and
reverence to the praises of the might of Jehovah, the God of
Israel — and she naturally reverts to the time when He first en-
tered into covenant with them as His people, and the manifesta-
tion then made of the glory and power of Him, before whom all
nature trembles.1
5-7. Quickly, however, the time passed away that a lively sense
of God's presence and power nerved the arm of his people in every
conflict with their enemies. In striking contrast to that earlier
period, the prophetess describes the late wretched state of despond-
ency and oppression in Israel, when the highways were deserted
and all traffic ceased, from dread of the enemy. The cause, how-
ever, was but too apparent " They chose new gods," and de-
serted the Kock of Israel.
8-10. In the next three verses, she expresses her own heartfelt
sympathy with those of the princes and people who had shewn
themselves zealous in the cause of the Lord, and she calls on the
three several ranks of the people to join the warriors, in praising
Jehovah for the new spirit which He had infused, and the deliver-
ance which He had wrought for Israel. " THEN," — ver. 7, in the
years that are past — " war was in their gates." But a new spirit
came over the people ; and with their altered tone, as re-
markable a change was wrought in the appearance of the land.
" THEN," the strophe ends, bringing into marked prominence by
the characteristic word of the song THEN (which indicates the
various stages of its progress), the remarkable change when the
people boldly issued forth from their places of concealment (com-
pare 1 Sam. xiii. 6), to appear again in the place of public resort
and council :
THEN, came down to tbe gates the people of Jehovah !
1 Jehovah is here represented as coming in majesty by Edom, from the laud of pro-
mise where He had revealed himself to the fathers of the nation, to Mount Sinai, in
order to meet with His people: whereas, in Deut. xxxiii. 2, Moses describes only His
descent from Mount Sinai to enter into covenant with them, when " Moses brought forth
the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether part of tha-
Mount." Exod. six. 17.
278 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
STROPHE II.
The Mustering of the Tribes to Battle, and the Victory.
Having in the introductory strophe called on all of every rank
to join in the song of triumph, Deborah preludes the central
strophe by a sudden apostrophe to herself and Barak to celebrate
the victory just obtained (ver. 11), herself by the strains of the
song, and Barak by leading forth his captives in triumphal pro-
cession.
" THEN" — she resumes (v. 12), reiterating the emphatic word
with which the first strophe had closed ; and she carries back the
hearer to the time when first her rousing appeals sounded in the
ears of the people, and her cry was raised to Jehovah to vouch-
safe to her His presence and blessing. In the two first stanzas
she brings before us the various tribes of Israel preparing for the
combat : in the first three verses (12-14), those who willingly
offered themselves ; in the next three (15-17), those who failed
to respond to the summons. It will be observed, however, that
the two classes are not strictly confined to their respective stanzas.
Through a skilful arrangement, the halting of Reuben between two
opinions is graphically depicted by assigning the first two lines,
describing the promising commencement of their deliberations, to
the first stanza ; while the preponderating number, the last four
lines, in which the untoward issue is recorded, class them with
those who declined to come " to the help of the Lord."1 To com-
1 This is one of the most remarkable proofs that I have yet met with, of the great
accuracy of the Masoretic punctuation. On a first consideration, every one would
have been inclined, with Ewald and Bertheau, to pronounce it decidedly erroneous in
the present instance, and to maintain that the last two lines of ver. 14 ought to have
been joined to the second stanza, and to begin v. 15. The parallelistic division into
stanzas now first reveals the superiority of the other punctuation.
In another aspect, however, which the parallelism developes, these two lines are con-
nected with ver. 15, as they form together with it an Epanodos :
By the water-channels of Reuben,
Great were the proposings of hearts !
Why sat'st thou still amid thy sheepfolds?
To listen to the bleatings of the flocks ?
At the water-channels of Reuben,
Great were the exposings of hearts !
There is a remarkable paronomasia, or play of words, in the second and sixth lines
of the original, which it 1m been attempted, very imperfectly, to reproduce in the
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 279
pensate, however, for the two lines of the first stanza, occupied by
Reuben, which promised at first so fair, but ended in disappoint-
ment, the last two lines of the second stanza celebrate the distin-
guished self-devotion of Zebulon and Naphtali, that the enume-
ration might conclude, as it began, with the praise of those who
shewed themselves zealous in the service of the Lord.
The last stanza (18-20) describes the conflict and the utter dis-
appointment of the proud hopes of the enemy, the very elements
conspiring together for their destruction.
STROPHE III.
The Sequel of the Bottle — the flight ; death of the hostile chief;
and disappointment of every vain hope of the enemies of the
Lord and his people.
The last strophe, like the two former, consists of three times
three verses, with a supernumerary verse at the close.
The first stanza begins with a description of the flight ; from
which the prophetess turns abruptly to curse the inhabitants of
Meroz, who refused, even when the victory was gained, to aid
their countrymen in cutting off the Canaanites in their flight ;
and commends, in marked contrast, the conduct of Jael, a
stranger to Israel, though allied to them by blood, who so identi-
fied herself with their cause, as to feel called upon to cut off the
chief of that accursed race, of whom Israel was commanded to
" destroy all that breathed," Josh. x. 40.
translation. The word first employed to denote the deliberations of Renben is com-
mendatory : 3\>— 'ppn hikkai-Iaiv, expressive of llieir high resolves, or " projtosings of
heart." By the reiteration of almost the same words to mark the issue of their delibe-
rations, the poetess seems at first to repeat her commendation ; but by the slight change
of a letter, it is converted into a biting sarcasm a^"^?" hikrai-laiv — disclosures by
searching.? — " erposings of heart."
I am happy to find that Dr Robinson, in his translation of this song in vol. i. of the
American Biblical Repository, agrees with me in regarding this paronomasia as no mere
unmeaning change, as other commentators seem to have done. His imitation of the
paronomasia is —
Among the streams of Reuben,
Great were the resolvings of heart.
Among the streams of Reuben,
Great were the revolvings of heart.
280 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The death of the chief occupies the next stanza (24-26).
Suddenly, by a beautiful transition, the scene is changed ; and
in the last three verses (27-29), the mother of Sisera is introduced
in impatient expectation, yet confident of her son's triumphant
return, and consoling herself for the delay with the thoughts of
the rich booty anticipated ; the several articles of which she is
represented, with the vanity and frivolity so characteristic of an
Eastern female, as counting over in imagination, " repeating, am-
plifying, and pausing on each, as if already in her possession."1
The overwhelming reverse that awaits her vain exultations is
strikingly indicated by the sudden and unexpected apostrophe of
the prophetess,
So perish all thine enemies, 0 Jehovah !
THEN (T£ az), as has been already remarked, is the character-
istic word of this song,2 marking out distinctively by its recur-
rence each progressive stage of the action in the poem. Where
it first occurs in the middle of Strophe I. (ver. 7), it marks the
miserable state of the country in the times of Israel's apostasy
from the Lord.
THEN, war was in their gates !
In ver. 10, at the close of Strophe I., it preludes, and repeated at
the commencement of Strophe II. (ver. 12) it emphatically marks,
the striking change now effected by the stirring appeals and ex-
hortations of Deborah.
Next, in ver. 18, it brings vividly before us the first furious
charge of the confederate kings rushing upon their long-oppressed
and despised foes :
On came the kings — they fought :
THEN fought the kings of Canaan.
Lastly, at the commencement of Strophe III. (ver. 21), it points
1 See this passage finely illustrated in Lowth's Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, Lect.
XIII.
2 So "|X ach, " only" is the characteristic word of Psalm Ixxiii. ; F'±1 netzach, " for
ever," of Psalm Ixxiv. ; H^ri haireem, " exalt," of Psalm Ixxv. ; »^ yawrai, " fear,"
of Psalm Ixxvi. &c.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 281
to the critical turn of the fight, when the enemy was broken and
fled in headlong haste from the field.
Placed thus graphically, with fine pictorial effect, at the pro-
minent points of action in the Song, this particle has at the same
time been skilfully employed by the poetess to subserve another
purpose — to indicate the division of the strophes. It stands at
the beginning of a verse only where it is intended to distinguish
the commencement of Strophe II. and Strophe III. We are thus
furnished with a strong confirmation of the correctness of Ber-
theau's arrangement.
Bat a still more decisive proof of its correctness is at once made
apparent to the eye, by restoring, as we have done, the whole
poem to its original symmetrical form, and numbering aright its
verses. While the lines (ver. 1,11, the last line of ver. 20, and ver. 30)
intended to point out the divisions of the strophes stand in one
view out of the rhythmical order, they are, by a nice adjustment,
made consistent with another arrangement, which runs side by
side without interference with the first. The whole song, it will
be observed, contains three Tens or 30 verses, each strophe con-
sisting of exactly 10 verses. The necessity of preserving this
arrangement intact, at once explains the reason why the transi-
tion from Strophe II. to Strophe III. is distinguished only by a
single line, attached to verse 20, and not by a whole verse.
SECTION XXII.
The examples next to be adduced exhibit so remarkable evi-
dence of artificial arrangement, that it will be difficult even for
the most incredulous to resist the force of it. They are taken
from Hengstenberg's Commentary on the Psalms, in which the
symmetry of the strophical arrangements, and numerical divisions
noted, does not strike the reader so forcibly as it would otherwise
do, if it had been represented in a visible form to the eye.
some slight deviations from his arrangements which I have per-
mitted to myself, in order to render the symmetry still more com-
282 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
plete, the reader may compare his Commentary, a work which is,
or ought to be, in the hands of every Biblical Scholar.
Hengstenberg has shewn that Psalms civ., cv., and cvi. form a
connected series, or trilogy of Psalms, composed towards the end
of the Babylonish captivity, when the Lord was beginning to shew
some tokens of returning favour towards His people — perhaps
immediately after the capture of Babylon by Cyrus the Great.
They are evidently designed to comfort the Jews in their present
weak and distressed condition, and to encourage them to look for-
ward with confiding trust to the promised deliverance, by argu-
ments deduced from God's works of Creation, of Providence, and
of Kedemption. The structure of these Psalms is most symme-
trical, and the similarity in all three so remarkable, that it seems
impossible we can be mistaken in attributing it to studied design
on the part of the composer. Each Psalm is divided into seven
parts or strophes : in each the central division is a single verse,
round which the other six are grouped, and which forms the
cardinal point on which the whole subject of each Psalm
turns. In the two last Psalms this central verse is the same,
ver. 23 ; the first three strophes, or first half of the Psalm, end-
ing with the alphabetical number, 22. The connexion of the
three Psalms is further indicated by their being the first in the
whole collection that end with Hallelujah, and the last Psalms of
the Middle or Fourth Book.
PSALM civ.
The subject of this Psalm evidently is the praise of God from
the works of creation, and from the careful provision which He
has made for the welfare of His creatures. The praise of God,
however, from nature is here, as Hengstenberg says, not the end,
but the means to an end. The great object of the Psalmist is
thereby to awaken in the people of the Lord, now suffering under
oppression from the heathen, the assurance that much less can
He be unmindful of the moral world, but that there shall be a
final triumph of the godly over the wicked.
The first and last verses of the Psalm evidently separate them-
selves from the rest, being both triplets, both containing the same
expression. " Bless the Lord, 0 my soul," and by their including
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 283
between them the substance or quintessence of the Psalm. When
we look at them in connexion, we see that the Psalmist's object
is to shew that the " greatness, honour, and majesty" of the Lord,
v. 1, which are so conspicuous in all His works of nature, as de-
veloped in the intermediate verses, shall be consummated (v. 35)
in the wicked " being no more." God made the earth to be inha-
bited by creatures who would shew forth His praise : whoever,
therefore, obstructs His glory, shall " be consumed out of the
earth."
Verse 18 as evidently stands apart by itself. It does not con-
nect immediately with the preceding verses which treat of the
watering of the earth for the support of its plants and animals —
much less with those that follow. It stands in the middle be-
tween both, being the point of transition from the one to the
other. It forms the central verse of the Psalm (there being 17
verses on either side of it), around which the whole turns, it being
expressive of the idea, that no part of God's creation is deprived
of His providential care. Even the hunted wild goats find a re-
fuge from their pursuers in the bare mountain summits, and that
" feeble folk," the conies, take shelter in their rocks. " If God then
so care for the meanest of His creatures, will He not much more
care for you, 0 ye of little faith ! " is the inference which the
Psalmist would have the Church to draw from the whole Psalm.
Though hunted as the wild goats, and feeble as the conies, the
Lord is to them a high rock and refuge.
This central verse has on either side of it one strophe of 4 verses,
and another of 12. " The signature of the world, and of the
people of God (see pp. 159, 160) are appropriately conjoined to-
gether in a Psalm, the object of which is to deduce from what God
has clone for the former, what He will do for the latter. The first
strophe of 12 verses (Strophe III.) is subdivided into 7 (resolving
itself into 4 and 3), and 5 : in the other (Strophe V.) the 12 is
subdivided into 5 and 7 (resolving itself into 3 and 4)." The
strophical arrangement may be thus represented :
Verses in St replies, . 1.4.12.1.
Or subdivided, . 1.4. 4+15 + 5.1.5 + 8 + 4.4 . 1
These figures read the same either way, backwards or forwards.
284
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
PSALM CIV.
A meditation on God's wondrous care for all his creatures manifested in Hix
works of nature, as a pledge that he will never forget His Church, and
suffering people.
Bless the Lord for His greatness and glory, as displayed in His works:
1. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, thou art very great ;
Thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
II.
Days of in the glorious light, and the formation of tlie heavens and the
CREATION. earth ;
1st Day. 2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment :
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain :
lid Day. 3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters :
Who maketh the clouds his chariot :
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind :
4. Who maketh his angels spirits ;
His ministers a flaming fire :
5. Who laid the foundations of the earth,
That it should not be removed for ever.
III.
in the exclusion of the overwhelming floods of waters from the
dry land;
Illd Day. [ 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment :
The waters stood above the mountains.
7. At thy rebuke they fled ;
At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8. They go up by the mountains ; they go down by the valleys,
Unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over ;
That they turn not again to cover the earth.
which yet He waters by sending streams into its valleys /
10. He sendeth the springs into the valleys,
Which run among the hills.
11. They give drink to every beast of the field :
The wild asses quench their thirst.
12. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,
Which sing among the branches.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 285
and rain, wliere those could not avail, for the nourishment of man
and beast,
13. He watereth the hills from his chambers :
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,
And herb for the service of man ;
That he may bring forth food out of the earth ;
15. And wine that muketh glad the heart of man,
And oil to make his face to shine,
And bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
1 6. The trees of the LORD are full of sap ;
The cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted ;
17. Where the birds make their nests :
As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.
IV.
Even the mountain summits are fitted for a refuge to living
creatures.
18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats ;
And the rocks for the conies.
V.
Thence let us ascend to the contemplation of the sun and moon,
and the blessings which they confer on God's creatures on earth :
IVth Day. 19. He appointed the moon for seasons :
The sun knoweth his going down.
20. Thou makest darkness, and it is night :
Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21. The young lions do roar after their prey,
And seek their meat from God.
22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together,
And lay them down in their dens.
23. Man goeth forth unto his work
And to his labour until the evening,
286
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Vth Dav.
and returning again to the earth and to the depths Mow, ice
find them teeming with living creatures.
24. O LORD, bow manifest are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all :
The earth is full of thy riches.
25. So is this great and wide sea,
Wherein are things creeping innumerable,
Both small and great beasts.
26. There go the ships :
There is that leviathan, whom thou has made to play therein.
All depend on God for support, for life and death ; as after
the Flood, He can make all again new,
27. These wait all upon thee,
That thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28. That thou givest them they gather :
Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled :
Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to
their dust.
30. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created :
And thou renewest the face of the earth.
VI.
All, even the mightiest, shall conduce to God's praise.
Vlth Day. 31. The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever:
The LORD shall rejoice in his works,
32. He looketh on the earth and it trembleth :
He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
33. I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live ;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34. My meditation of him shall be sweet :
I will be glad in the LORD.
VII.
The wicked, therefore, cannot continue to oppose His glory and
His Church.
35. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth,
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless thou the LORD, O my soul.
Praise ye the LORD.
Hengstenberg draws attention to the fact that the name Jeho-
vah, or the LORD, occurs in this Psalm 10 times in all (including
Hallelujah), 3 times in the first half, and 7 times in the second.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 287
The order of the days of creation is in general followed in the
description of the Psalmist. Thus we have the work of the first
and second days in v. 2-5, of the third in v. 6-18, of the fourth
in v. 19-23, of the fifth in v. 24-26, and an allusion to th« seventh
in v. 31.
" The differences are occasioned not merely by the distinction
between the poet and the historian, and by the circumstance that,
whilst the historian regarded the creation in itself, the Psalmist re-
gards it here only as it is still continued in the preservation of
nature, but also by the Psalmist's object being not to represent
the greatness of God in nature generally, but specially in His
providential care of living creatures. The subject of the Psalm
is the praise of God from His works, all of which He has wisely
ordered so that his living creatures are fully cared for. This ex-
plains why in the series of days the sixth day, on which He gave
life to these creatures, is entirely omitted. His careful provision
for this life was the single object which the Psalmist had in view
to enforce in all the topics which he has handled," and hence there
is no stanza specially devoted to it.
The student may compare, with these remarks of Hengsten-
berg's, on the omission of the work of the sixth day, the reasons
which have been assigned above, pp. 230, 231, for the omission of
the Tenth Commandment in our Saviour's renewal of the Second
Table of the Law in the Sermon on the Mount.
PSALM cv.
God's care for His people, as evinced in the works of nature,
was the subject of Psalm civ. His care for them even in their
distress and bondage, as evinced in history, is the subject of
Ps. cv. The middle verse is the 23d (with 22 verses on either
side).
Israel also came into Egypt ;
And Jacob sojourned in the land.
This being the central verse round which the whole subject
turns, it is evident that the Psalm was written during the Baby-
lonish captivity, of which the former bondage in Egypt is here
regarded as a counterpart and emblem. The reason for the
Psalmist's enlarging so fully on the history of Joseph (17-22)
288 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
becomes strikingly apparent, the moment we perceive that he sees
in Daniel a second Joseph, sent in like manner before the great
body of his people to the land of captivity, and raised, by his in-
terpretation of the dreams of the monarch, from a state of servi-
tude, to hold the second place in the kingdom, that he might be a
protector for his people. The history of the past is here presented
as a mirror in which to view the present ; and the argument is :
— As in the earlier part of the history of our forefathers, we see a
counterpart of that superintending care and providence which
have watched over us hitherto (1-22) previously to our sojourning
in this land of our captivity, which answers to the Egypt of those
days (v. 23) ; so let us feel assured, from the sequel of that his-
tory, that the same power and faithfulness will deliver us now
which effected our previous redemption from the bondage of
Egypt (v. 24r-45).
This Psalm, like the preceding, is divided into seven strophes,
the first and last of which consist of 7 verses, subdivided, ac-
cording to Hengstenberg, into 4 and 3, or rather, as it appears to
me, into 3, 1, 3. The 3 decads that remain are grouped round
v. 23 as their middle point, forming two strophes on either side
of it ; the first of these in both cases (Strophes II. and V.) con-
sisting of 5 verses, and the second (Strophes III. and VI.) consist-
ing of 10 verses, resolving themselves into subdivisions of 3, 4, 3- —
or 3 and 7, this last again subdividing into 4 and 3.
This will be rendered still more apparent, when stated thus :
Verses in strophes, .7.5. 10 — 1 — 5 ~ ^ 10 . 7
Or subdivided, . 7-5-3 + 4 + 3— 1 — 5 • 3 + 4 + 3 . 7
PSALM CV.
I.
The judgments and wonders of (he Lord in the past history of His people, as
ground of joyful hope for the future, if (central ver.) they " seek His face
evermore" and " remember His marvellous works" (v. 5).
1. O give thanks unto the LORD ; call upon his name ;
Make known his deeds among the people.
, 2. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him :
| Talk ye of all his wondrous works.
2. Glory ye in his holy name :
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORH.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM . 289
4. Seek the LOKD and bis strength :
Seek his face evermore.
5. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done ;
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth ;
6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
Ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7. He is the LORD our God :
His judgments are in all the earth.
II.
For the Lord remembers for ever His covenant made with their fathers,
of the permanent possession of Canaan.
8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9. Which covenant he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac ;
10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
And to Israel for an everlasting covenant :
1 1 . Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The lot of your inheritance :
12. When they were but a few men in number;
Yea, very few, and strangers in it.
III.
True to it, He protected them in every danger.
13. When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people ;
14. He suffered no man to do them wrong:
Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes ;
15. [Saying], Touch not mine anointed,
And do my prophets no harm.
When for a time He sent them to a strange land, yet He sent before
them one of their ovm brethren (as Daniel now) for their protection.
16. Moreover he called for a famine upon the land :
He brake the whole staff of bread.
17. He sent a man before them, even Joseph,
Who was sold for a servant :
18. Whose feet they hurt with fetters :
He was laid in iron :
19. Until the time that his word came :
The word of the LORD tried him.
T
290 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Whom, for interpreting his dreams, the Icing of the land set to be
over his princes.
20. The king sent and loosed him ;
Even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
21. He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his substance •,
22. To bind his princes at pleasure ;
And teach his senators wisdom.
IV.
23. Israel also came into Egypt ;
And Jacob sojourned in the land.
V.
But God redeemed them thence by great signs :
24. And he increased his people greatly ;
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25. He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtilly with his servants.
26. He %ent Moses his servant ;
And Aaron whom he had chosen.
27. They shewed his signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28. He sent darkness, and made it dark ;
And they rebelled not against his word.
VI.
by plagues inflicted on their enemies, first alarming and disgusting ;
Plague 1. 29. He turned their waters into blood,
And slew their fish.
Plague 2. 30. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
In the chambers of their kings.
Plague 3. 31. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies,
Plague 4. And lice in all their coasts.
SCKll'TUKE PARAI.I.K1.I-M. 291
2 . then destrudice to the food of man and beaut :
Plague 5. 32. He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33. He smote their vines also and their fig trees ;
And brake the trees of their coasts,
Plague G. 34. He spake, and the locusts came,
And caterpillars, and that without number ;
35. And did eat up all the herbs in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
3. touching at last the life of man, so that their enemies pressed gifts upon
them to depart.
Plague 7. 36. He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
The chief of all their strength.
37. He brought them forth also with silver and gold :
And there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38. Egypt was glad when they departed :
For the fear of them fell upon them.
VII.
By His care for His People in the Wilderness, and giving them the Promised
Land, God has demonstrated (central v.) His remembrance of His Covenant.
39. He spread a cloud for a covering ;
And fire to give light in the night.
40. The people asked, and he brought quails,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;
They ran in the dry places like a river'.
42. For heVemembered his holy promise,
And Abraham his servant.
43. And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with gladness :
44. And gave them the lands of the heathen :
And they inherited the labour of the people ;
45. That they might observe his statutes,
And keep his laws.
Praise ye the LORD.
In the first and last strophes, which each consist of seven
verses, I have said that I consider the threefold division to be
more correct than that given by Hengstenberg. By adopting this
division in Strophe I., the central thought (v. 4), to which the
minds of the people would be directed as the great means of has-
tening the fulfilment of their hopes of deliverance would be,
292 SCTJPTUUE PAUALLELtfcjM.
Seek tho LORD, and his strength :
Seek his face evermore :
and, according to the usual connexion in the threefold division,
this idea is carried on and unfolded in the third member of the
arrangement (v. 5-7) :
Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, &c.
This would give a more pointed significance to the beginning
of Strophe II., which commences the great subject of the Psalm
to which Strophe I. was introductory. " Kemember," ye, " the
Lord's marvellous works" (v. 5), for (v. 8) " He hath remembered
his covenant for evermore."
In the closing Strophe (VII.) accordingly, which consists, like
the first, of seven verses, after the long intermediate details given,
the whole would be most appropriately summed up in what be-
comes the central verse (v. 42), if we adopt the threefold division.
For he remembered his holy promise,
And Abraham his servant :
while at the same time, by the closing verse (45), the hearers
were brought back again to the central thought of Strophe I., re-
minding them of the condition necessary on their part for obtain-
ing their desired return, and of the purpose for which God settled
their fathers in the land of promise :
That they might observe his statutes,
And keep his laws.
Here, however, a formidable objection presented itself, which
threatened to wrest from them all the hopes which the arguments
of these two Psalms had awakened. Are not the sins of the people
greater than can be forgiven ? To this the answer is
PSALM cvi.
True, is still the central thought of its 1st Strophe,
Blessed are they that keep judgment,
And he that doeth righteousness at all times.
This is the great end, and the distinguishing character of God's
SCRIPTURE PARALLEL 1 -J;r',
people,, at which they must ever aim : still, our sins part not be-
t \veeii us and the Lord :
" for he is good :
For his mercy endureth for ever." (v. 1).
We call to mind the sins of our fathers (6-43), manifold and
aggravated as they were, and confess that ours have been equally
heinous : still when they cried unto Him (v. 45),
He remembered for them his covenant,
And repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
Now, therefore, that (central verse of Strophe VII. v. 46) He
has begun to shew signs of returning favour to His people, we
are encouraged to hope and pray for the forgiveness of our sins,
and that " the Lord our God" will turn and " save us, and gather
us from among the heathen" (v. 47).
The circumstances of the people are here defined precisely. A
change for the better is preparing for Israel, since God has turned
the minds of their heathen masters towards them (v. 46). Still,
however, they are in captivity (v. 47). The time, consequently,
is towards the end of the Babylonish captivity, probably imme-
diately after the conquest of Babylon by the Medo-Persian power,
and answers exactly to the circumstances under which Daniel of-
fered up the prayer contained in his ninth chapter, with which
this Psalm presents some remarkable correspondences. Both use
the expressions, " We have sinned, and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly" (Dan. ix. 5, Ps. cvi. 6), taken from Solo-
mon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, 1 Kings viii. 47.
As the Psalmist first connects God's remembering his covenant to
His people, with their remembering His works (cv. 5 and 8), ob-
serving His statutes (cv. 42 and 45) and keeping His judgments
(cvi. 3 and 4), and then goes on to confession of sins, (cvi. 6, <fcc.) ;
so we find the same threefold connexion in Daniel ix. 4, 5. " I
prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession and said,
0 Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and
mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his command-
ments; we have sinned and have committed iniquity, and have done
wickedly, &c.
'• The be<nnnin:r and close of Ps. cvi., each consisting of five
294
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
verses, form together a decade. The name Jehovah (the LORD)
occurs in them in all seven times, four times in 1-5, and three
times in 44-18. The statement of the sins of the people occupies
four strophes, of which the first (Strophe II.), consisting of 7
verses, recounts the sins in Egypt, Strophes III. and V., each con-
sisting of 10 verses, the sins in the wilderness, and Strophe VI.,
in like manner, consisting of 10 verses, the sins in Canaan." The
first three strophes of the Psalm are separated from the last three
by that remarkable intercession (v. 23), which Moses made for the
Israelites, after their grievous apostasy from the solemn covenant
so lately entered into with the Lord at Mount Sinai, and which,
by this position, is made the central point of contemplation in
the whole Psalm. The prominence given to this act of Moses, and
afterwards (v. 28-31) to a similar act of Phinehas, can, in Hengst-
enberg's judgment, be adequately explained only on the suppo-
sition, that the Psalmist had in his eye the intercessory act and
prayer of Daniel (chap. ix. ; comp. Ezek. xiv. 14, 20), by which
he " stood before the Lord in the breach, and turned away his
wrath " from his people.
The strophical division may be thus represented :
5 • 7 • 10 • 1 • 10 • 10 • 5
The tens seem very variously subdivided in this Psalm. In
Strophe III., the division is 3 + 3 + 4 ; in Strophe V., 4 + 4 + 2 ;
in Strophe VI., 5 + 5.
PSALM CVI.
The grace of the Lord, greater even than our fathers' sins, a ground of hope
for the future.
I.
Gocfs merry, everlasting, especially to the righteous (central v.), encourages us
to pray for His salvation.
Praise ye the LORD.
1. O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good :
For his mercy enclureth for ever.
2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can shew forth all his praise ?
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 295
3. Blessed are they that keep judgment,
And he that doeth righteousness at all times.
4. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto tin-
people :
O visit me with thy salvation ;
5. That I may see the good of thy chosen,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation,
That I may glory with thine inheritance.
II.
We confess that we with our fathers have sinned grietonsly.
1. Sins of the fathers in Egypt ; yet the Lord (central v.) rebuked the Red Sea
before them.
6. We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt ;
They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies ;
But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake,
That he might make his mighty power to be known.
9. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up :
So he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
1 0. And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
1 1 . And the waters covered their enemies :
There was not one of them left.
12. Then believed they his words ;
They sang his praise.
m.
Sins in the wifderness. a. Three before the Law.
1. Against God's "counsel"— not waiting His time and way.
13. They soon forgat his works ;
They waited not for his counsel :
14. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15. And he gave them their request ;
But sent leanness into their soul.
296 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
2. Against His chosen servants.
16. They envied Moses also in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the LORD.
17. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And covered the company of Abiram.
1 8. And a fire was kindled in their company ;
The flame burned up the wicked.
3. Against God himself directly.
19. They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshipped the molten image.
20. Thus they changed their glory
Into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
21. They forgat God their saviour,
Which had done great things in Egypt ;
22. Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
And terrible things by the Red Sea.
IV.
Tet the intercession of Moses (as of Daniel now) averted God's wrath.
23. Therefore he said that he would destroy them,
Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,
To turn away his wrath lest he should destroy them.
V.
b. Three sins after the Law ; pardoned, but after severe tokens of God's
displeasure.
1. Refusal to enter Canaan, after return of the spies.
24. Yea, they despised the pleasant land,
They believed not his word ;
25. But murmured in their tents,
And hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.
26. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them,
To overthrow them in the wilderness :
27. To overthrow their seed also among the nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.
2. Idolatrous worship of Baalpeor.
28. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor,
And ate the sacrifices of the dead.
29. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions ;
And the plague brake in upon them.
80. Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment ;
And so the plague was stayed.
31. And that was counted unto him for righteousness
Unto all generations for evermore.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
3. Murmuring for water at Kadesh.
32 They angered him also at the waters of strife,
So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes ;
33. For they provoked Ills Spirit ;
And he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
VI.
Sins of the sons in Canaan.
They spared and imitated the idolatrous heathen ;
34. They did not destroy the nations,
Concerning whom the LORD commanded them ;
35. But were mingled among the heathen,
And learned their works.
36. And they served their idols :
Which were a snare unto them.
37. Yea, they sacrificed their sons
And their daughters unto devils,
38. And shed innocent blood,
Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan :
And the land was polluted with blood.
and God gave them up to the heathen to chasten them.
39. Thus were they defiled with their own works,
And went a-whoring with their own inventions.
40. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people,
Insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
41. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen ;
And they that hated them ruled over them.
42. Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43. Many times did he deliver them ;
But they provoked him with their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.
VIL
Still wJien they cried, God heard, and shewed signs of relenting, as now.
(central v.)
44. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction,
When he heard their cry :
45. And he remembered for them his covenant,
And repented according to the multitude of his men-u -.
46. He made them also to be pitied
Of all those that carried them captives.
298 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
-r
47. Save us, O LORD our God,
And gather us from among the heathen,
To give thanks unto thy holy name,
And to triumph in thy praise.
48. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting :
And all the people saith, Amen.
Praise ye the LORD.
The reason why the sins in the wilderness are dwelt upon with
such fulness, as to occupy two strophes, Hengstenberg consi-
ders to be, because the Psalmist saw in the exclusion of the
fathers, on account of these, from the land of Canaan, a figure of
the present exile from it of their posterity.
It will be observed that, along with the previous sin in Egypt
at the Bed Sea (Strophe II.), the sins here enumerated amount to
seven,1 three in Strophe III., and three additional in Strophe V.
These Hengstenberg regards as intended to stand ia contrast with
the seven " signs and wonders," wrought for the deliverance of
God's people, which are enumerated in Psalm cv. 29-36, in
accordance with Deuter. xxxii. 6, " Do ye thus requite the Lord,
0 foolish people and unwise ?" So in the Books of Moses, he re-
marks, the ten temptations, of which the Israelites were guilty
against the Lord, stand opposed to the ten " signs and wonders"
exhibited in their redemption. " Because all those men which
have seen my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt, and
in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and
have not hearkened to my voice ; surely they shall not see the
1 The plague of " darkness" does not form one of the series enumerated in Psalm
cv., as might appear at first sight, on looking to verse 28, " He sent darkness, and
made it dark." For 1st, this, which in the history is the ninth plague, if placed be-
fore all the others, would disturb the order of the plagues, which otherwise, with a
slight deviation, is exactly observed : but 2<%, if these words be understood to apply
literally to the plague of darkness, the second line of verse 28, " And they rebelled
not against his word,'1 would contradict the history (Exod. x. 27) ; for it was not till
after the tenth and last plague, that Pharaoh and the Egyptians at length ceased to
resist the Lord. The " darkness" in verse 28, therefore, though alluding to the ninth
plague, is a figurative expression (as in Isaiah xlv. 7, 1. S) for evil, or calamity in
general, under which the Psalmist, before entering on the detail of the individual
plagues, includes and sums up the whole series ; representing Egypt as if all the time
resting under a dark cloud of God's displeasure which had lowered down upon it,
charged with the impending disasters.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
299
land which I sware unto their fathers." Numb. xiv. 22. The sen-
tence of exclusion from the land of Canaan did not go forth against
the Israelites, till they had filled up the number of their iniquities,
by shewing their hearts to be equally hardened as that of Pharaoh.
It is generally supposed that the " ten times" mentioned in
Numb. xiv. 22, is an indefinite number. It will be found, how-
ever, on examination, that they are distinctly specified, and
amount exactly to this number. As usual, they seem to be ar-
ranged with remarkable precision, the ten being divided into two
equal sections, between which there is a marked parallelism.
1. Fear of enemies.
2. Water.
Manna.
Manna.
Manna.
6. Water.
7.
These three
sins are now
first followedbj
the punishment!
of death.
10. Fear of enemies.
Exod. xiv. 11, 12. The Israelites murmur, when Pha-
raoh appeared at the Red Sea.
Exod. xv. 33. They murmur for water at Marah.
Exod. xvi. 2. They murmur for bread and flesh in the
wilderness of Sin.
Exod. xvi. 20. They left of the manna till the morn-
ing, " and Moses was wroth."
Exod. xvi. 27. Some went on the seventh day to ga-
ther it. " And the Lord said unto Moses, How
long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my
laws ?"
Exod. xvii. 1. They murmur for water at Rephidim.
Exod. xxxii. They make the Golden Calf. " And
there fell of the people that day about three thou-
sand men," v. 28, by the hands of the Levites.
Numb. xi. 1. They murmur at Taberah. " And the
them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp,"
v. 1.
Numb. xi. 4. They lusted for flesh at Kibroth-hattaa-
vah. " And the LORD smote the people with a very
great plague," v. 33.
Numb. xiv. 1. They refuse to enter Canaan on the re-
turn of the spies.
300
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Here, it will be observed, the first and last of the ten trans-
gressions of the Israelites (1 and 10) are connected, both bearing
the same character of distrust of the living God from the fear of
man. If we separate these, as the beginning and concluding sins
of the series, we find that the first sin of the remaining four, in
each division, was murmuring for water (Nos. 2 and 6) : after
which follows in each division a group of three sins connected to-
gether ; in the first division, by their all having regard to manna ;
in the second, by the punishment of death now for the first time
being inflicted in each of these cases, by way of warning before
the final sentence should go forth, that all their carcases should
fall in the wilderness.
The seven sins selected by the Psalmist seem, in like manner,
to be arranged around the sin of the Golden Calf as a centre.
[ 1. Murmurin^ft the Distrust of God, from the fear of man.
Red Sea.
•{ 2. Lusting for bread.
3. Envying Moses and
Aaron.
4. Golden Calf.
5. Sin on the report
of the spies.
6. Sin of Baalpeor.
7. Sin at Meribah, or
Kadeshbarnea.
" Lust of the flesh."
Rebelling against God's chosen ones.
Idolatry.
Distrust of God, from the fear of man.
" Lust of the flesh."
Rebelling against God's chosen ones (u Hear, now,
ye rebels, must we fetch you water," &c., Numb.
xx. 10), and provoking them to sin, so as to
cause their exclusion from the promised land.
SECTION XXIII.
The next example is again taken from Bertheau, being the be-
ginning of the Book of Proverbs, according to the arrangement
given in his Commentary.
SCltlPTUllE PARALLELISM. 301
ClIAl-. I.
Title, Author, and Object of the Book.
1. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, THE SON OF DAVID, KINO OF ISRAEL:
'J. <i To know wisdom and instruction ;
b To perceiyp the words of understanding :
;>. f To receive the instruction of wisdom,
! Justice, and judgment, and equity
4. j To give subtilty to the simple,
[_ To the young man knowledge and discretion :
5. I" A wise man will hear, and will increase learning ;
, j And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise couiiM/ls ;
6. j To understand a proverb, and the interpretation ;
[ The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
Requisites on the part of the Learner.
7. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge ;
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.1
8. My son, hear the instruction^1 thy father,
And forsake not the law of thjKmother ;
0. For they shall be an ornament oi^race unto thy head,
And chains about thy neck.
The young must early make their choice.
1. Sinners present their allurements.
The allurements offered.
10. My son, if sinners entice thee,
Consent thou not.
1 1 . If they say, Come with us,
Let us lay wait for blood,
Let us watch privily for the innocent without cause ;
12. Let us swallow them up alive as the grave ;
And whole as those that go down into the pit ;
13. We shall find all precious substance,
We shall fill our houses with spoil :
1-4. Cast in thy lot among us ;
Let us all have one purse :
The consequences of compliance.
1 5. My son, walk not thou in the way with them ;
Refrain thy foot from their path :
1 I have taken the liberty here of altering Bertheau's arrangement, by joining Terse
7 not with the first six verses, as he has done, but with verses 8 and 9.
302 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
16. For their feet run to evil,
And make haste to shed blood.
17. Surely in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird.
18. And they lay wait for their own blood ;
They lurk privily for their own lives.
19. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain ;
Which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
2. Wisdom presents her invitations.
Her earnest cries and exhortations.
20. Wisdom crieth without ;
She uttereth her voice in the streets :
21. She crieth in the chief places of concourse,
In the openings of the gates :
In the city she uttereth her words, [saying],
22. How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ?
And the scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge ?
23. Turn you at my reproof:
Behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you,
I will make known my words unto you.
Warnings against neglecting them.
24. Because I have called — and ye refused ;
I have stretched out my hand — and no man regarded ;
25. But ye have set at nought all my counsel,
And would none of my reproof:
26. I also will laugh at 'your calamity ;
I will mock when your fear cometh ;
27. When your fear cometh as desolation,
And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ;
When distress and anguish cometh upon you.
The fearful consequences of obstinate neglect.
28. Then shall they call upon me — but I will not answer ;
They shall seek me early — but they shall not find me.
29. For that they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of the LORD :
30. They would none of my counsel :
They despised all my reproof.
31. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled with their own devices.
32. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them,
And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely,
And shall be quiet from fear of evil.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 303
CHAP. II.
But the cry of Wisdom must be met with corresponding earnestneu.
1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words,
And hide my commandments with thee ;
2. So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom,
And apply thine heart to understanding ;
3. Yea, if thou criest after knowledge,
And liftest up thy voice for understanding ;
4 . If thou seekest her as silver,
And searchest for her, as for hid treasures ;
Resulting Benefits.
1. Wisdom, as regards God, and divine duties :
5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
6. For the LORD giveth wisdom :
Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding,
7. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous :
He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8. He keepeth the paths of judgment,
And preserveth the way of his saints.
2. Wisdom, as regards Man, and social duties :
9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment,
And equity ; yea, every good path.
10. When wisdom entereth into thine heart,
And knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul ;
11. Discretion shall preserve thee,
Understanding shall keep thee :
Preserving thus the young from the seductions
1. of wicked Men :
12. To deliver thee from the way of the evil man,
From the man that speaketh froward things ;
13. Who leave the paths of uprightness,
To walk in the ways of darkness ;
14. Who rejoice to do evil,
And delight in the frowardncss of the wicked ;
15. Whose ways are crooked,
And they froward in their paths :
304 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
2. of wicked Women :
16. To deliver thee from the strange woman,
Even from the stranger which flattereth with her words ;
17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,
And forgetteth the covenant of her God.
] 8. For her house inclineth unto death,
And her paths unto the dead.
19. None that go unto her return again,
Neither take they hold of the paths of life.
and ending in a nappy issue.
20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
And keep the paths of the righteous.
21 . For the upright shall dwell in the land,
And the perfect shall remain in it.
22. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth,
And the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
The introductory six verses (i. 1-6) form in reality a long title
in the style. of ancient works. Ver. 1 states what, according
to modern usage, would be counted the proper Title of the
Book ; ver. 2 states its twofold object : a, to impart practical
wisdom and instruction to the young ; b, to increase the contem-
plative knowledge even of the experienced : a, being expanded in
a (ver. 3, 4) ; b in b (ver. 5, 6).
The rest of Chap. I. is addressed to the young, and is divided
into three sections.
1. The first three verses (7-9) prescribe the indispensable
requisites on the part of the learner for reading the Book with
profit and attaining to true wisdom. First and above all (ver. 7)
there must be " the fear of the Lord," and a desire to learn of
Him, without which even the first step to the attainment of
wisdom cannot be taken ; and secondly, (ver 8, 9) as the proof
and invariable accompaniment of this disposition, let there be
that greatest ornament to the character of the young, a reveren-
tial regard to the instructions of their parents, as being the
representatives of Crod upon earth. (See p. 143)
In the next two sections, consisting, the first of ten verses, and
the second of fourteen (twice seven), the young are reminded of
the momentous choice which they are called upon to make.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
'2. On the one hand (10-1'J), sinners will solicit them to join
in their evil practices. This section consists of ten verses, dis-
tinctly subdivided into five and five, the beginning of each stanza
being marked by the address " My son." The first five verses de-
scribe the allurements offered by the wicked ; the last five, the
ruinous consequences of listening to their enticements.
3. On the other hand, (20-33), Wisdom presents her invita-
tions. This section consists of fourteen verses, subdivided into
three times four verses, with two concluding verses.
In the first four verses (20-23), Wisdom is represented as
addressing loud and earnest calls to the young, both of warning
and of encouragement.
In the next four (24-27), she deters from neglect of her invi-
tations from fear of the consequences, lest she requite their ne-
glect when calamity begins to overtake them.
Finally, in the last four (28-31), she describes in full the irre-
mediable consequences of this neglect if obstinately persisted
in : — the whole being summed up and enforced in two closing
verses (32, 33) pronouncing the inevitable certainty of a coming
judgment fraught with destruction to the despisers of her words,
but with safety and peace to the obedient.
CHAFFER II
carries on the subject begun in Chap. I, and exhorts to earnest
search after wisdom, by describing the beneficial effects which
will flow from its attainment. Its alphabetical number of verses
(22) divides into two halves containing eleven verses each, which
again are subdivided into 4 -f- 4 + 3.
First division of eleven verses, 1-11.
First four verses (1-4).— We have heard in the former chapter,
how earnestly Wisdom seeks to gain the young : but her invi-
tations must be met with a corresponding earnestness on their
part, " Wisdom crieth without," i. 20 : but thou must " cry after
knowledge," ii. 3. " She uttereth her voice in the street*," i. 2
but thou must " lift up thy voice for understanding," ii. 3. If
these conditions are fulfilled (these first four verses import)
30() SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
" Then" — the two benefits recounted in the next two stanzas
of four and three verses will result, the beginning of each of these
stanzas being distinguished by the words :
Ver. 5. Then shalt them understand —
Ver. 9. Then shalt thou understand —
First benefit (ver. 5-8) : Then shall be vouchsafed to thee by
the Lord, who alone can give it, the " fear of the Lord' (i. 7),
and the spiritual " wisdom" of which it " is the beginning."
Second benefit (ver. 9-11) : Then also shalt thou attain unto
that " discretion and understanding" which lead to the discharge
of the social duties of man to man — to " understand righteousness,
and judgment, and equity ; yea, every good path."
The first four verses constitute the protasis, or antecedent term
of a proposition ; the next two groups of four and three verses
form the apodosis, or consequent term.
Second division of eleven verses, 12-22.
The second division is subdivided with equal distinctness as
the first in 10 groups of 4, 4, and 3. The first two groups specify
the two great dangers from which the young will be preserved
by listening to the instructions of wisdom.
1. (v. 12-15) from the seductions of wicked men ;
2. (v. 16-19) from the seductions of wicked women ; who
would entice the unwary to forbidden gains and pleasures.
3. (v. 20-22) In the last group of three verses, the choice of
this "better part" is enforced, as in the end of Chap. I., by a
reference to the blessings promised to the righteous, and the de-
struction denounced against the wicked.
The two first groups begin each with the words, " To deliver
thee," and the seducers in both are characterized first by their
speech, ver. 12 and ver. 16, and then by their paths, ver. 13-15
and ver. 17-19.
BCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 3Q7
SECTION XXIV.
Isaiah has also followed the strophical arrangement in the com-
position of his prophecies. Let us take as examples chap. i. in
the earlier prophecies, and chap. liii. in the later.
Chap. I. comprises a single prophecy complete in itself, the
design of which evidently is " to shew the connexion between the
sins and sufferings of God's people, and the necessity of further
judgments, as means of purification and deliverance."1 It is
divided into three strophes, of which the first and last, consisting
each of eight verses, subdivided into 3 + 2 + 3, are antithetically
parallel. **
Strophe I. (2-9) describes the present state of corruption of
God's people (2-4), incurable by any ordinary discipline (5, 6),
which had already been carried so far, that their country was in
desolation, and all but utter ruin. (7-9).
Strophe III. (24-31) predicts, in contrast, a future state of
purity and prosperity, which, however, can only be brought
about by passing them through a fiery discipline which will purge
out every impurity (24-26), redeem them unto righteousness, but
destroy impenitent transgressors (27, 28), whose vain confidence
shall utterly fail them, and prove the means of their destruction.
(29-31).
The intermediate Strophe II. of 14 verses (10-23), rejects as
ineffectual the only two methods that might seem capable of avert-
ing the necessity of this fiery discipline ; the 1st, which the peo-
ple would be ready to urge as a plea for suspension of judgment,
their punctilious observance of religious worship (10-12), which,
however, the Lord declares only aggravated their guilt by its
hypocrisy (13-15) ; and the 2d, the method of genuine repent-
ance and reformation proposed by the Lord himself (16, 17) ;
which indeed, however great their past tranegressions, would be
accepted (18-20) ; but which, alas ! is now hopeless from their
total corruption (21-23) : and therefore cannot be effected by any
means less severe than the thorough purgation, to which in
Strophe III. the Lord declares himself obliged to resort.
! Prophecies of Isaiah, Earlier and Later, by Joseph Addison Alexander.
308 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The subdivisions of the strophes are :
Strophe I. and III. resolve themselves into . 3 + 2 + 3 ;
Strophe II. resolves itself into 6 + 2+6; in
which the sixes are still farther subdivided into 3 + 3.
The beginnings of each of the strophes (and also of the princi-
pal subdivision of Strophe II. ver. 18), are marked by the Lord
being introduced in each as speaking.
ISAIAH, CHAP. I.
1. THE VISION OP ISAIAH, THE SON OF AMOZ, WHICH HE SAW CON-
CERNING JUDAH AND JERUSALEM IN THE DAYS OF UZZIAH,
JOTHAM, AHAZ, AND HEZEKIAH, KINGS OF JuDAH.
I.
' 2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth !
For the LORD hath spoken.
I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against me.
3. The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass his master's crib ;
But Israel doth not know,
My people doth not consider.
4. Ah sinful nation ! a people laden with iniquity !
A seed of evil-doers ! children that are corrupters !
They have forsaken the LORD ;
They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger ;
They are gone away backward.
Why should ye be stricken any more?
Ye will revolt more and more :
The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head the re is no soundness in it
But wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores ;
They have not been closed, neither bound up,
Neither mollified with ointment.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 309
f 7. Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire :
Your land, strangers devour it in your presence,
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard,
As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9. Except the LOUD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,
We should have been as Sodotn,
And we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
II.
[10. Hear the word of the LOUD, ye rulers of Sodom 1
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah ! [LoRD ;
1 1 . To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the
I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ;
And I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12. When ye come to appear before me,
Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts ?
13. Bring no more vain oblations ;
Incense is an abomination unto me ; [with ;
The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away
It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting,
14. Your new moons, and your appointed feasts my soul hateth :
They are a trouble unto me ;
I am weary to hear them.
1 5. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ;
Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear ;
Your hands are full of blood. »
16. Wash you, make you clean ;
Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes :
17. Cease to do evil ; learn to do well ;
Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed ;
Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
310 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
("18. Come now. an 1 let us reason together, saith the LORD :
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ;
Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,
19. If ye be willing and obedient,
Ye shall eat the good of the land :
20. But if ye refuse and rebel,
Ye shall be devoured with the sword :
For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
21. How is the faithful city become an harlot!
It was full of judgment ;
Righteousness lodged in it ; but now murderers.
22. Thy silver is become dross,
Thy wine mixed with water :
23. Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves ;
Every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards ;
They judge not the fatherless ;
Neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
III.
24. Therefore saith the LORD,
The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel ;
Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries,
And avenge me of my enemies :
25. And I will turn my hand upon thee,
And purely purge away thy dross,
And take away all thy tin :
! 26. And I will restore thy judges as at the first,
And thy counsellors as at the beginning :
Afterwards thou shalt be called,
The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment,
And her converts with righteousness. [gether,
28. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be to-
And they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired,
And ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth ;
And as a garden that hath no water.
31. And the strong shall be as tow,
And the maker of it as a spark,
And they shall both burn together,
And none shall quench them.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. .Ill
Let us next examiue, in the Later Prophecies, Chap. liii. of
Isaiah. This remarkable passage, as we might expect, bears the
marks of being most carefully considered and systematically
arranged. The 3 last verses of Chap. Hi. evidently constitute
p-irt of the same context and subject ; and the whole is divided
into three strophes, the 1st and Illd consisting of 3 verses each,
and the central strophe, of 9 verses. They form an Epanodos,
in which the exaltation and success of the Messiah, consequent
upon his humiliation, are made the most prominent objects, by
being placed first and last, in strophes of 3 verses each ; while
yet Messiah's sufferings constitute the central subject, which is
dwelt upon with greater fulness in 3 times 3 verses, the very centre
of which, and of the whole arrangement, is the ATONEMENT (liii.
4—6, and especially the central verse of these three, v. 5).1
The train of thought may perhaps be more clearly perceived
by a short analysis according to the strophical arrangement.
I.
LII. 13. Messiah's success and exaltation
14. Shall be proportionate to his humiliation.
As his sufferings shocked his countrymen,
15. So the Gentiles shall regard him with profound reverence.
1 For the observation of this arrangement, I may say that I am indebted to Hengtt-
enberg ; for though his proposed division in the Dissertations appended to his Com-
mentary on the Psalms (IVter Band, p. 242) is erroneous, it first drew my attention
to the fact that the numbers of the verses in the Prophets might be equally significant,
and indicative of the internal connexion, as in the so-called Poetical Books.
I have just met, however, with a striking confirmation of the correctness of the di-
vision here given. Stier, in a note to p. 409 of his " Jesaias, nicht Pseudo-Jesaias,"
gives the identical arrangement here proposed into "five times three verses, of which
liii. 4-6 forms the cardinal point," with the additional remark that Chap. liii. forms the
very centre of the Later Prophecies of Isaiah, which consist of 27 chapters (>I-l*vi).
312 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
IT.
LIU. 1. We, Jews, though prepared by previous revelations, believed
him not.
2. His mean condition offended our worldly expectations.
3. We despised and rejected him for his sufferings.
4. But these sufferings were ours, though we knew it not.
5. To make ATONEMENT for us, he endured them ;
6. By the appointment of the LORD.
7. Hence he was a meek, obedient, unresisting sufferer.
8. " My people [the LORD speaks] oppressed and judged him,
never reflecting that theirs was the guilt."
9. Therefore, though " numbered with transgressors" in his
death, his innocence was recognised in the grave allotted
him after death.
III.
1 0. He shall reap the fruits of his sufferings, by the seed and ever-
lasting kingdom given to him.
11. The travail of his soul shall bring salvation to many.
12. Power shall be given him for universal conquest, as the reward
of bis humiliation and continued work of intercession.
It is worthy of remark that the sufferings of the Messiah are
distinctly brought forward in the central verse of each of the
stanzas, even of the two which describe his exaltation and triumph.
I.
LII. 13. Behold my servant shall deal prudently,
He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14. As many were astonished at thee ;
His visage was so marred more than any man,
And his form more than the sons of men :
15. So shall he sprinkle many nations ;
Kings shall shut their mouths at him :
For that which had not been told them, they have seen ;
And that which they had not heard, they have considered.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 313
II.
1 • Who fof us] hath believed that which we had heard V
And to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed ?
2 For he shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of a dry ground ;
He hath no form nor comeliness ;
And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should
desire him.
3. He is despised and rejected of men ;
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief :
And we hid as it were our faces from him ;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4. Surely ours were the griefs which he bore,
And our sorrows — he carried :
Yet we — did esteem him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities :
The chastisement of our peace was upon him ;
And with his stripes we are healed.
6. All we like sheep have gone astray ;
\Ve have turned every one to his way ;
And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us :ill.
7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
Yet he opened not his mouth;
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So he openeth not his mouth.
8. From oppression and judgment he was taken away ;
And in his generation who regarded it ?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living,
For the transgression of my people — theirs was the stroke.
9. And they had assigned him his grave with the wicked,
But he was with the rich after his death :
Because he had done no violence,
Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
314 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
III.
10. Yet it pleased the LOUD to bruise him ;
He hath put him to giief :
When his soul shall make an offering for sin,
He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied ;
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ;
For he shall bear their iniquities.
1 2. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
And he shall divide the spoil with the strong ;
Because he hath poured out his soul unto death ;
And was numbered with transgressors ;
And bare the sin of many,
And maketh intercession for the transgressors.
It will be observed that I have ventured to alter the transla-
tion of the 1st verse of Chap. liii. from that usually adopted.
By the common rendering, " Who hath believed our report ? "
the prophet is represented, rather incongruously, first as speaking
in the name of the prophets who had forewarned the Jews of
" the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow/' and
then in the immediately subsequent verses, as classifying himself
with his unbelieving countrymen who rejected the Messiah, ver. 3.
" He was despised, and we esteemed him not," &c. A transition
so sudden should not be assumed without pressing necessity. By
the rendering here proposed, " Who [of us] hath believed that
which we had heard ? " this harshness is avoided, and the words
becotn^ not the complaint of the prophets on account of the un-
belief of their countrymen, but the lamentation of the Jews them-
selves over their long-continued blindness and infidelity, when
they shall come at length with deep mourning to " look upon Him
whom they have pierced." But it was the observation of the pa-
rallelism that led me principally to tliis interpretation. The word
in the original which is rendered " our report" O^?*;? sh'mooa-
thainoo), is evidently chosen with a distinct reference to the verb
in the previous verse *yn% sham'oo. " they had heard," of which
it is the verbal noun, and points attention to a striking antithesis
between the last two lines of Hi. 15 and the two lines of liii. 1.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELI-M. 315
LIT. 15. So shall he sprinkle many nations ;
Kings shall shut their mouths at him :
a For that which had not been told them they have seen ;
b And that which they had not heard they have considered.
Lin. 1. b Who [of us] hath believed that which we had heard?
a And to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed ?
Here a and a correspond, and the two central lines b and b.
The Gentiles (a) have had their eyes opened, and " have seen" the
marvellous salvation wrought by God through His Messiah,
though they were prepared by no previous prophecies and dispen-
sations of God ; while (a) " the arm of the Lord," so evidently
manifest in it, has not been revealed to the Jews, though accus-
tomed to the previous revelations and interpositions of Divine
power. Again (b), what the Gentiles " had not heard" before,
they at once " have considered" and believed : but (6) what " we
had heard"1 so often announced to us Jews by the word of God,
" who hatli believed ?"
1 When we examine accurately the use of the word ~;"":? sh'mooah, rendered in
the authorised version "report," it appears rather extraordinary that a meaning should
have been so generally attached to it, for which, so far as I can find, there is no autho-
rity in Scripture. It is a derivative from the verb *?•> shama " to hear ;" and the
literal [signification of the word as here used is, as in the margin of the Bible, our
'• hearing" or hearsay. Now, as every hearer presupposes, as a correlative, a speaker
or reporter, and every hearsay implies a report, it is evident that in many cases the
word which really signifies " hearsay" may, without impropriety or confusion, be
translated " report." But this does not authorise us in all cases to regard them as
identical, and to maintain that when we add a possessive pronoun for instance to the
noun, " our hearsay" and " our report" are equivalent. " Our hearsay" is the news
which we hear (this indeed is frequently added, as 1 Sara. ii. 24, " it is no good report
[or hearsay] that I hear ; 1 Kings x. 7, " the fame which I heard,' &c.): " our re-
port" is the news which we report. In the former case we are the hearers : in the lat-
ter, the reporters. If we apply this to the instance before us, it is evident that in the
words, " Who hath believed our hearsay," the prophet speaks not in the name of the
reporters or prophets, but of the repentant Jews who had heard the word of (Sod, but
did not believe.
To justify this causative or Hiphil meaning attributed to ^.*?$ (— " what
we have caused others to hear"), appeal is made to an alleged similar signification of its
Greek equivalent **««'. This assertion seems to be equally groundless, and founded on
the same mistake. The instances to which Hengstenberg appeals (Christologie, i^322,
1st edition), are three. The first is Rom. x. 16, in which Paul has quoted the Septiu-
gint translation of the passage before us, r'n Ir'irrtvti T? «««? «/"*». Now it is rather
remarkable that the context refutes the meaning of " report,* here attributed to «***'.
The point of the succeeding words, *f* * vims i£ ««««, is in • great measure lost by
our not possessing a proper equivalent in our language for *«««. The literal tranala-
316 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
This view is in beautiful accordance with the representations
of all the previous chapters. In these the prophet had insisted
much on the privileges which Israel enjoyed, as being instructed
beforehand by God himself of the salvation to come, while the
Gentiles were left to the worship of dumb idols, which could
neither speak nor profit. Thus in chap. xli. 22-27 the Lord
challenges the idols and idol-worshippers :
22. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen :
Let them shew the former things, what they be,
That we may consider them, and know the latter end of them ;
Or declare us things for to come.
23. Shew the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that ye are gods :
26. Yea there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth,
Yea there is none that heareth your words.
27. I first say to Zion, Behold, behold them :
And I give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
The Lord appeals to the fulfilment of all his former promises
and predictions to Israel as the pledge and earnest that ought to
insure their faith in the higher promises of the Messiah, and his
great salvation.
xui. 9. Behold the former things are come to pass,
And new things do 1 declare.
Before they spring forth, I tell you of them.
XLVIII. 3. I have declared the former things from the beginning ;
And they went forth out of my mouth and I shewed them ;
I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
tion of the context would be, " But they have not all heard submissively (uiryxau<rav)
the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our hearing [i.e. what we have
heard] . So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I
say, Have they not heard ?" Nothing can be clearer than that the primary reference
here is not to the reporters, but to the hearers. His second example is Gal. iii. 2, " Re-
ceived ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ?" Here Law
and Faith are opposed, and the characteristic requisitions of each, works and hearing.
And the Apostle demands of the Galatians, whether it was by their working which the
Law requires, or by their hearing, which Faith requires, that they received the Spirit.
In both cases it was they, the Gajatians. that had to work, that had to hear. Bengel's
note is, Vc, axetji vriffTica;, ex auditu fidei. Exquisite sic denotatur natura fidei, non
operantis sed recipientis. Hengstenberg's third example is not more favourable to his
view. 1 Tbess. ii. 13, «ra£«X«£ovT£? Xoyav axon; frag' r,peHv TIV Siou, " when ye re-
ceived the word of God which ye heard of us." Here, unless we will confound altoge-
ther \'oyoi and axori. we must consider the first as denoting the Gospel as spoken by
the preuc/ter, and the second, as received by the hearer.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 317
But he predicts Israel's unbelief notwithstanding.
XLII. 19. Who is blind, but my servant?
Or deaf, as my messenger that I sent ?
Seeing many things, but thou observest not :
[Sent] to open ears ! but he heareth not.
Nothing is so frequently reiterated throughout these chapter*
as the call to Israel to " hear" Thus,
XLII. 18. Hear, ye deaf!"
23. Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will hearken and hear for the time to come ?
Compare xliv. 1, xlvi. 3, 12, xlviii. 1, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18. Par-
ticularly in the previous chapter 1L, three of the stanzas begin,
LI. 1. Hearken to rae, ye that follow after righteousness.
4. Hearken unto me, my people.
7. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness.
It is in strict keeping, therefore, with the general strain of tfye
previous chapters, that in the verses before us, the conduct of the
Gentiles who had not before heard of Christ, and yet did consider
and believe the glad tidings of his appearance when announced to
them, should be contrasted with the perverseness and unbelief of
God's own people, who " had heard" and yet would not hear, as
He had already complained of them :
XLVIII. 6. Thou hast heard, see all this ;
And will not ye declare it ?
8. Yea, thou heardext not ; yea, thou knewest not ;
Yea, from that time thine ear was not opened.
SECTION XXV.
I shall conclude with giving the arrangement of that suqwiss-
ingly eloquent passage, so full of consolation to the humble Chris-
tian, which forms the magnificent conclusion of the doctrinal
part of St Paul's Epistle to the Romans.
318
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
ROMANS viii. 28-39.
28. And we know that all things work together for good
A To them that love God,
B To them who are the called according to his purpose.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
39.
B -
36.
37. A
38.
For whom he did foreknow,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of hig
Son,
That he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called :
And whom he called, them he also justified :
And whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things ?
If God be for us, who can be against us ?
He that spared not his own Son,
But delivered him up for us all,
How shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? God,
that justifieth ?
Who is he that condemneth ? Christ that died, yea rather that
is risen again ?
Who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter-
cession for us ?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ?
1 23
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
4 5
Or famine or nakedness,
6 7
Or peril or sword ?
As it is written,
" For thy sake we are killed all the day long,
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through
him that hath loved us.
( 1 2-
J For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
1 3 -4
(_ Nor angels, nor principalities,
( 5 6
\ Nor things present, nor things to come,
1 7
/ Nor powers,
f 8 »
) Nor height, nor depth,
< 10
(^ Nor any other creature,
Shall be able to separate us iioin the love of God, which is in
i. Christ Jesus our Lord.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 319
All things without exception, however adverse or overwhelm-
ing they may appear, we are here assured, work together to fur-
ther and perfect the character of true Christians. These are cha-
racterized both on the human and the Divine side : 1st, by a
reference to that wonderful change that has been wrought in
themselves, by which they have been brought from a state of
enmity, to the love of God ; and 'My, by a reference to the eter-
nal purpose and electing love of God towards them. These two
characteristics regulate the division which pervades this passage.
All things concur for good,
1. (A) " To them that love God ;"
2. (B) " To them who are the called according to his purpose."
The second of these, as so frequently in the Scriptural arrange-
ments, is first enlarged upon in verses 29-34 (B} ; and the first
is then taken up in verses 35-39 (A): so that the whole passage
forms an Epanodos, or Introverted Parallelism, in which the
Christian's love to God occupies the first and last place.
After the statement of the general proposition in ver. 28, the
Apostle first enlarges on the " purpose " of God in vv. 29-34 (B).
All things must work together for good to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For He foresaw from the first,
and made full provision for the utmost extent of the corruption,
weakness, and necessities of the sinner induced by the fall, and
arranged all the necessary steps for the recovery and advancement
to the end of His redeemed (29, 30). And if God be thus for
the believer, who can be against him ? (31). In giving His Son,
He has given all— a Saviour who Jjas done and suffered, and will
perfect everv thing that is requisite for the salvation of his people
(32-34).
We are thus brought naturally to the 2d division. If such are
the amazing tokens of that love which God and Christ have shewn
towards us, " who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? "
Every one who has bestowed reflection upon this passage must con-
fess the great difficulty of deciding to which to give the preference
of the two opinions which have divided interpreters so much—
whether our love to Christ, or Christ's love to us is here intended.
The majority of modern commentators incline to the latter opinion,
the arguments for which have been well stated by Mr Alford in
his val ual »le Greek New Testament. " The first of these [opinions,
320 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
that our love to Christ is here meant] is held by Origen, Chrysos-
tom, Theodoret, Ambros. Erasm. al. But the difficulty of it lies
in consistently interpreting ver. 37, where not our endurance in
love to Him, but our victory by means of His love to «s, is alleged.
And besides, it militates against the conclusion in ver. 39, which
ought certainly to respond to this question. The second appears
to me the only tenable sense of the words. For, having shewn
that God's great love to us is such that none can accuse nor harm
us, the Apostle now asserts the permanence of that love under all
adverse circumstances — that none such can affect it, — nay, more,
that it is by that love that we are enabled to obtain the victory
over all such adversities. And, finally, he expresses his persuasion
that no created thing shall ever separate us from that Love, i. e.
shall ever be able to pluck us out of the Father's hand." 1
On the other hand, some of the arguments for the opposite
opinion appear so strong, that it appears almost impossible to
set them wholly aside. The natural and obvious inference that
would strike any one on first reading these words, c; Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, or dis-
tress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril or sword ?"
would certainly be, that not Christ's love to the believer, but the be-
liever's love to Christ, must be here intended. "None can imagine,"
says Doddridge, " that Christ would love a good Christian the less
for enduring such extremities for his sake " [Cornp. ver. 36].
" It is not conceivable," argues Barnes, " how afflictions, &c.
should have any tendency to alienate Christ's love from us : but
their supposed tendency to alienate our love from him might be
very strong. The persecutions and trials to which Christians are
exposed on account of their professed attachment to him, might
be supposed to make them weary of a service that involved so many
trials."
But, above all, if this passage is, as commentators generally
allow, one of the most highly consolatory to be found in the whole
compass of God's Word, as being designed and calculated to re-
move the utmost fears of believers, it seems of necessity that there
should be here a reference to the greatest of all fears to the bo-
liever, lest his love to his Lord should give way amidst the sc-
1 The Greek Testahtcnt, by Ileury Alfurd, B.D. Vol. ii., pp. 375, 37(5.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 321
verity of the trials to which his faith is exposed. In his dark
hours of despondency, what is the anxiety which presses most
heavily on the mind of the trembling sinner ? Not surely, may
not God change ? but shall not I change ? Amidst the nu-
merous temptations with which I am beset by the devil, the
world, and the flesh, but above all, when I look to my own wr;ik
and evil heart, so deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
may not my love to Christ wax cold, and my soul be eternally
lost ? Here is the true cause of fear : and this the argument
must meet, if it is to be of any avail. It seems impossible, there-
fore, to doubt that, to this extent, reference must be made to the
believer's love being kept firm, under every circumstance, to his
God and Saviour ; and if our arrangement be at all correct (which
the beautiful symmetry thus introduced into the passage scarcely
permits us to doubt) a return is here made (in ver. 35-39) to the
first characteristic of Christians (A), that they are those " that
love God," and consequently, as " all things " are declared to
" work together for their good," these trials, so far from weakening
their love to their Lord, will only deepen and strengthen it. But
how ? is the question. And here lies, we believe, the reconcilia-
tion of the two apparently adverse opinions. Whence did our
love to Him first originate ? " We loved Him, because He first
loved us." That wondrous " love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord," first awakened a response in our bosoms, and
called forth a return of gratitude and love for such transcendent
and unmerited grace previously shewn unto us. How is our love
to be preserved from decay, and to receive those fresh accessions
which alone can enable us to overcome the sufferings to which all
who will live godly in Christ Jesus are exposed ? Surely, only,
by having recourse ever to the original source — by " the love of
God being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to
us" (Rom. v. 5), by our being made, as the Apostle expresses it,
" more than conquerors through him that hath loved us."
assurance, then, of our love being kept firm to God and His Son,
amidst the trials which we have to endure, is here based on its
only sure and steadfast foundation, their everlasting and unchanging
love towards the redeemed. If rightly understood, this passage
is one of the strongest to be found in favour of that most precious
and consoling doctrine, the perseverance of the saints. It fur-
324 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
The principle of the arrangement seems to have been to place
inanimate and animate objects alternately, reserving " creature"
which may apply to either, to the last line.
SECTION XXVI.
ESSAY ON THE PLENARY INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE.
(See p. 225).
We cannot conclude without entering a decided protest against
the practice, too common among German critics, of rejecting
certain passages as unsuitable to the context, merely because
they do not agree with the particular view which they have
taken of the connexion. Thus we find Neander, in commenting
on the Parable of the Labourers in the vineyard (Mat. xix. 30-
xx. 16), unhesitatingly asserting that the words with which it
is introduced and concluded, " Many that are first shall be last ;
and the last shall be first," " cannot possibly denote the punctum
saliens of the parable." The words, he alleges, are foreign to the
scope of the parable. " We therefore cannot but suppose that
this parable, so faithfully preserved, and bearing so indubitably
the stamp of Christ, is joined to the words that precede and follow
by a merely accidental link of connexion. In this supposition,
which, indeed, has long been a certainty with me, I agree with
Strauss and De Wette."1 Now, leaving the inspiration of Matthew
out of view, and regarding merely the superior opportunities en-
joyed by him of entering into the true meaning and connexion
of Christ's parables, few, we believe, would hesitate which to prefer
as their guide, Matthew or Neander, in case of difference of opi-
nion between them, or to which to ascribe the failure in discern-
ment.
But what becomes of the inspiration of Scripture, if even, on the
most important of all subjects, the teaching of our Lord, we can-
1 Neander's Life of Christ. Engl. Transl., p. 385. Bohn's Ed.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 325
not trust to the accounts of the Evangelists, nor be sure that they
do not give the parables and discourses which they detail in a
connexion altogether erroneous, and which presents a false view
of their scope and contents ? What means the promise, " But
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you ?"
(John xiv. 26). It may perhaps be said, that Neander attributes
this mistake not to the Apostle Matthew, but to the Greek trans-
lator and compiler of the Gospel which we have under his name.
But surely, if the promise was made by our Lord to his disciples
of the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit to suggest what and
how they were to speak, merely when engaged in orally defend-
ing the truth before synagogues and magistrates, much more
are we entitled to expect that this assistance would be vouchsafed
to those whose writings were to be the directory of faith for the
Christian church till the end of time.
This subject of the inspiration of Scripture is the great ques-
tion of the day on which it is of essential importance for the stu-
dent of Scripture to form a sound opinion. We are far from
thinking it necessary to maintain that all the words reported by
the Evangelists were spoken exactly in the order and on the occa-
sion given, according to the too mechanical theory of most of
our Harmonists. The office of the Evangelists was to convey
to the church a faithful idea of the doctrine of the Lord ; but
since each regarded the truth, and was ordained to present it,
from a different point of view, there must, as in a picture drawn
of the same building from four different positions, be correspond-
ing differences in the modes of representing it. Dr Da Costa
has some observations well worthy of attention on this subject.
" As, from the very first, there was in the person of our
Saviour a richness and fulness which were capable of being
drawn upon, and behoved to be drawn upon, in various ways,
so was it with the words which he uttered. None of the
Evangelists presents these words with a complete literal fide-
lity, except only when, for example, St Mark gives us an idea
of the actual language in which Jesus spoke, by rendering a
few of his words in the Aramaean, which was his national and
everyday dialect. But all had the liberty, the right, the vocation,
326 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
to render the same words of our Lord, one in this, another in that
other particular connexion and order ; one in a more, another in
a less fully developed manner ; one with a copiousness of explana-.
tion, another with more terseness and compression."1 " It pertains
to the high authority of the sacred writers not always to render
literally their Master's words, but, as it were, to identify these
with their own inspired conceptions and expositions of them, in
such sort that often one cannot make, and that there is no need
of making, a distinction. Here we may apply our Lord's saying,
' He that heareth you heareth me.' When the- Apostles or
Evangelists thus give our Lord's saying with their own para-
phrase or explanation, let it not be forgotten that they do so in
his Spirit, and by his Spirit, and that thus their Scriptures have
the same authority as the words of Jesus himself, and ought to
be considered as his authentic interpretation. Their word is his,
understood and rendered by one of their number as viewed in
one aspect, by another in another aspect."9
This furnishes a satisfactory explanation of many of the varia-
tions in the different accounts of the Evangelists, without resort-
ing to the forced methods of reconciliation often attempted by
Harmonists. Thus only we think can the two different accounts
of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, given by Matthew and Luke,
be satisfactorily reconciled. It is not therefore against Neander's
supposition, that certain passages may have been inserted by
Matthew, in his account of the Sermon on the Mount, from other
discourses of our Lord delivered on a different occasion,3 (though
we see no ground to believe this), that our objection lies, but
to his confident assertion of their inappositeness and inaccuracy,
which, if just, would to our apprehension strike at the root of any
consistent theory of the inspiration of Scripture.
We regret much to find Mr Alford giving the weight of his
authority to these lax views of the inspiration of Scripture, in a
work which will have so great an influence in forming the opi-
nions of the young men in our universities, as his excellent edi-
1 The Four Witnesses ; being a Harmony of the Gospels on a New Principle, by
Dr Isaac Da Costa, p. 139.
3 The Four Witnesses, p. 18. — See also an admirable little work which has just
appeared on " The Characteristic Differences of the Four Gospels," by Andrew Jukes.
3 See p. 22i.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 327
tion of the Greek New Testament at present in progress. \Y«-
trust that the purport of the following remarks will not be i
understood, as if intended to detract from the real merits of the
author, the value of whose labours, and the earnest truth-seeking
spirit which pervades them, we gratefully acknowledge. But our
high respect for Mr Alford only rendters us the more anxious to
warn students against what we consider his dangerous errors on
a subject of vital importance. With regard to the inspiration of
the Scripture, the more that we examine the subject in all ita
bearings, the more firmly are we convinced, that no other theory
can be maintained with consistency, than that of its plenary
inspiration ; by which we understand " a supernatural divine
influence upon teachers while giving instruction, whether oral or
written, by which they were taught what and how they should
write or speak," and by which God, while He has availed himself
in the fullest manner of all the variety of minds and talents which
He has bestowed on His creatures, so as to give to Scripture that
beautiful diversity and living interest which characterize the
books of the different writers, has yet so overruled the product of
their minds, that it is in reality and in the highest sense " the
Word of God," and free from the imperfections and errors which
necessarily attach to every mere human production.
This is the element which, entering into the inspiration of
the Scriptures, distinguishes them so essentially from all other
writings. On the great subject of the inspiration of the sacred
writers in its full extent, we pretend not here even to enter. It
would require a volume adequately to discuss it. We would only
warn the student against one of the prevailing errors of the day,
by begging him to keep clearly in view the distinction between
the subjective and objective inspiration of the sacred writers,
which have been confounded together by Mr Maurice, in his
Essay on Inspiration. The first is an ordinary gift of the Holy
Spirit, which they possessed in common with all believers ; the
second is wholly supernatural and peculiar to themselves, and
has received the name of Inspiration par excellence.
propriety, however, of applying the term to the former, we
have the authority of two passages in the Book of Common
Prayer of the Church of England adduced by Mr Maurice.
" On the 5th Sunday after Easter," he says, " we ask ' Him
328 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
from whom all good things do come, that by His holy inspiration
we may tliink those things that be good, and by His merciful
guiding may perform the same/ And again in the Communion
Service, we ask that ' the thoughts of our hearts may be cleansed
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that we may perfectly love
God, and worthily magnify ^His name/ " In many respects, this
subjective inspiration is far the more important gift of the two,
and has received much less attention from theologians generally
in the discussion of this momentous question of Inspiration than
it deserves. They have been too exclusively occupied in enforcing
the points in which the Inspiration of Scripture differs from that
of the most highly spiritual of other writings, and have neglected
to consider those in which they agree. We fully sympathize
with Mr Maurice in his zeal to maintain the identity of that same
Spirit — who, while He spake by the prophets, enabled them to
enter with personal discernment and interest into those Divine
truths which they were commissioned to set forth to others — with
that Spirit, through whose inspiration alone we can now savingly
" read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" their words. We have
no sympathy whatever with that dry, hard, literal theory of inspi-
ration, which would represent the writers of Scripture as if they
were mere mouthpieces through whom the Spirit of God gave
forth his utterances. Those to whom the word of God came ob-
jectively of old time were almost invariably men who were pre-
pared subjectively to enter into the meaning and spirit of the
communications which they were ordained to utter. Without
this preparation, indeed, they would have been ill qualified to im-
part to others the solemn truths with which they were charged.
What, comparatively, would have been the effect of the Apostles'
teaching even the grand discoveries of the Gospel, had they not
themselves been " living epistles known and read of all men,"
fully pervaded and penetrated in their own innermost minds and
hearts by that Spirit through whose inspiration they spoke ?
Still, though the objective inspiration was usually accompanied by
the subjective, and both are so mingled and blended together in
the sacred writings, that it is impossible for us to separate them,
and to assign to each their respective spheres, they are not to be
confounded together : and to prove to us the entire and generic
distinction between them, a few cases are given in Scripture
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 329
whore the external inspiration of the Spirit was vouchsafed, while
the evil heart had refused to admit the internal. Balaam was
constrained against his will to speak the mind of God, and to
bless where he would have cursed, by Him who shewed that He
could make a dumb unreasoning animal to be His mouthpiece if
He willed it. Caiaphas, as high priest, was overruled to employ
words which bore a meaning altogether different from what he de-
signed, when he predicted the necessity of Christ's dying for the
salvation of his people. That the more ordinary gifts of the Holy
Spirit should not always accompany the extraordinary, we are
assured by our Lord
u Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ?
And in thy name have cast out devils ?
And in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you :
Depart from me ;
Ye workers of iniquity !" — MATT. vii. 22, 23.
The whole tendency, however, of Mr Maurice's Essay is to con-
found these two species of Inspiration. He is so intent on prov-
ing the identity of the Inspirer of the Prophets with that Spirit of
truth who was to be poured out on all flesh, and who is now ac-
tually present in the midst of His church, that he forgets that
there may be " diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." The
reader who will take Mr Maurice as his guide, rises from the
perusal of his Essay with the impression, that there is no
generic distinction between the inspiration of a prophet and
of a poet, of an Isaiah and of a Homer, of a Paul and of a
Seneca, of one of the writers of the Old or New Testa-
ment, and of a man of truly spiritual enlightenment of the
present day. On this point it is that we join issue with Mi-
Maurice. Upon his theory, how comes it to pass, we would
ask, what we scarce think he will question, that the Scriptures are
so immeasurably superior to every other, the best and most spi-
ritual of mere human productions ? Whence come that woncU r-
ful freedom from prejudice and error which distinguishes these
books, that remarkable condensation yet comprehensiveness, that
calm.consciousness of power and authority with which they spr;ik ?
330 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Whence comes it that some of the most highly gifted and spiri-
tually minded men, as Mr Maurice's Theological Essays are a
signal proof, err so widely and grievously from the truth ? For
either he, or the majority of the most highly endowed men of
Christendom have, by his own shewing, fallen into lamentable
mistakes on momentous points of Christian doctrine. " I am not
ashamed," he writes in his 1st Essay, on Charity, pp. 12, 13, " to
say that the vehement denunciations of the general faith of Chris-
tendom which I have heard from Unitarians — denunciations of it
as cruel, immoral, inconsistent with any full and honest acknow-
ledgment of the Divine Unity, still more of the Divine Love, have
been eminently useful to me. . . . I do not mean, because
the hearing of these charges has set me upon refuting them ;
but because great portions of these charges have
seemed to me well founded ; because I have been compelled to
confess that the evidence for them was irresistible. And I have
been driven more and more to the conclusion that that evidence
does not refer to some secondary, subordinate point, . . but
that it concerns the grounds of our personal and of our social exist-
ence." Mr Maurice would not deny to many of those whose
opinions he here so keenly denounces, as they would not deny to
him. the possession of high spiritual gifts, and of that " holy in-
spiration " whereby Christians are enabled to " think those things
that be good, and by His merciful guiding to perform the same ;"
and yet this holy inspiration has not, it appears, preserved them
— or him — frorn deplorable error on the very essentials of Chris-
tian truth.
In denying, therefore, in toto, the generic distinction with re-
gard to Inspiration between the Scriptures and all other writings
whatever, we consider Mr Maurice's Essay highly calculated to
mislead, from the very partial and one-sided view which he has
taken of this as of most other subjects in his Theological Essays.
If there exists no genet ic distinction between the inspiration of
the Scriptures and the spiritual works of men, is there, we ask,
any writing whatever since the days of the Apostles which Mr
M. is prepared to receive as inspired in the same sense as the scrip-
tural books ?— and to style " the Word of God ? " If not, Mr
M. has gone far to prove the very point for which we contend.
He feels that there is a something for which his theory does not
SCRIPTURE PAHAJ.LKI.IvM. 331
account, and which distinguishes these books emphatically from
all others.
But in consistency Mr M. ought to go still farther than he has
done. He will allow that the Holy Spirit is as truly present in
the Church by his power, as by His wisdom. Those mighty ope-
rations of the Holy Spirit, by which souls dead in trespasses and
sins are quickened into spiritual life, have not ceased, but blessed
be God, shall continue to attest the power and presence of the
Holy Spirit so long as Christ's church endures. These moral
miracles, as they may be called, are still more important than
those physical miracles which, by the extraordinary operation of
the Holy Spirit, the apostles and early Christians were empowered
to perform. Is Mr Maurice prepared in like manner, as con-
sistency would require, to deny the generic distinction between
these other ordinary, and extraordinary operations of the Holy
Spirit ? Does not the analogy of the two cases teach us, that as
God, by the miraculous powers with which He endowed believers
on the first outpouring of the Spirit, gave them the earnest and
assurance of those still greater works which they were to be
strengthened to accomplish by His power working mightily within
them, so that wonderful perfection and freedom from error
stamped externally upon God's word was intended to be the seal
and confirmation of that spiritual and Divine wisdom which is
contained within ?
Let not the Student of Scripture be seduced to think that the
question of its plenary inspiration is so very immaterial as Mr
Maurice would represent it. To the interpreter it is most im-
portant. He whose mind is profoundly imbued with the convic-
tion that the Scriptures are the words of Him that cannot err, and
where alone pure unmixed truth is to be found, will tremble to
make his own confined and partial views the measure of God's
truth, and will weigh, with scrupulous reverence, whatever ex-
pressions seem opposed to his own favourite notions, and thus
gradually will be led to correct his errors and to discard his
prejudices, and may hope at length to attain to just, impartial,
and comprehensive views of the whole counsel of God.
1. With regard to the extent of inspiration, whether it is ple-
nary or not, it appears to us, that the sole and decisive criterion
must be the testimony of Scripture concerning itself. On this
332 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
point we possess a most clear and unequivocal declaration. " All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God." 2 Tim. iii. 16. Let any
man fairly and honestly weigh the import of these words, and we
cannot see how he can escape the conclusion that inspiration is
here claimed for every portion of Scripture without exception.1
Spoken by a Jew and to a Jew, respecting those Scriptures,
every jot and tittle of which he knew were regarded with supersti-
tious reverence by his countrymen, what less can these words of
Paul mean than to assure Timothy, and all Christians whom his
Epistle should reach, that the highest reverence which they could
pay to every part of Scripture could not be misplaced ? These
words too primarily refer to the Old Testament, the inspiration of
some of the historical books of which critics have had the greatest
difficulty in allowing, and to confirm which, therefore, Paul's
assertion must have been specially designed : but with equal force,
as being the inspired utterance of an Apostle of Christ, they must
apply to all the books of the New Testament, which it was the de-
sign of the Great Head of the Church, should hereafter be written
and included in the canon of Scripture.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Here all the
fine spun theories and distinctions as to different modes and de-
grees of inspiration (" superintendence," " elevation," •'' sugges-
tion," &c.) are at once cut off". Who shall dare to make distinc-
tions, where God has made none ? We are astonished how so
many good and wise men should have presumed to " darken coun-
sel by words without knowledge," and sought to dive into
matters so utterly beyond the comprehension of all, but those who
have been the subjects of it, as inspiration. All such attempts,
1 To guard against a prevalent misapprehension, it may be well to state that in main-
taining that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, it is not meant to assert
that all the words or sentiments of others therein recorded were inspired in their ori~
ginnl utterance, e. g. that the Serpent spake the words of God when he said to Eve, " Ye
shall not surely die" — that God moved Abraham to say of Sarah, "She is my sister"
— that Job's friends were inspired when they " spake of God the thing that was not
right" (Job xlii. 7) — that the letter of Claudius Lysias (Acts xxiii. 26-30) is a Di-
vine production, &c. — but only that the record of these is inspired, and that the writers
were moved by the Holy Ghost to insert them as part of that all-perfect word of God
which addresses men by example as well as by precept, and which omits nothing that
can avail to move the variety of human minds and characters with which it has to
deal, every part being " profitable," in its time and place, " for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, and for instruction in righteousness."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 333
too, to limit inspiration are utterly at variance with some of the
most unquestionable facts which we know concerning it. Accord-
ing to the theories of those who would thus undertake to define
the workings of God's Spirit, no inspiration, or the very lowest de-
gree of it, is required by those who uttered historical or other
truths of which they were already fully cognizant Now let
any one examine most of the speeches of the Apostles as re-
corded in the Acts, and he will, we believe, acquiesce in the
opinion of Olshausen,1 quoted with approbation by Mr Alford,
with regard to their general character. " We discover already
in this first sermon all the peculiarities of apostolic preach-
ing. It contains no reflections nor deductions concerning the
doctrine of Christ — no proposition of new and unknown doctrines,
but simply and entirely consists of the proclamation of historical
facts." And yet, with regard to these very speeches, we have the
authoritative declaration of Christ himself: " Take no thought
how or what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the
Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you" (Mat. x. 19, 20).
Neither as to manner nor matter were they to be left to them-
selves : and as Christ said of his own words, " The words that I
speak unto you, I speak not of myself" (John xiv. 10), so he
affirms of the words of His Apostles, "He that heareth you,
heareth me." Let us tremble, therefore, to charge their words
with error, lest haply we be found speaking against the Holy
Ghost.
2. Every other theory of the inspiration of Scripture, but that
which holds it to be plenary, appears to us to be derogatory to
the word of God, nugatory, and self-confuting. If a human fal-
lible element is admitted, it destroys the great characteristic of
Scripture, that of being " the Word of God." The sacred writer,
we are bid to suppose, is so far directed and upheld by God, and
then suddenly left to himself — to stumble, it may be : then
again he is taken up by the Spirit, who assumes the direc-
tion till the next occasion occur, when the human element may
be indulged with comparative impunity to leave its traces on the
record. The Scriptures thus cease to deserve the special appella-
tion which they claim of being " the Word of God." They are
the word of manias well as the Word of God. They form, in
1 In his Commentary on Acts ii. 12-16.
334 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
fact, a strange patchwork of both, of truth and error, of infalli-
bility and fallibility. What confidence can we place in a book
as being a perfect revelation of the will and truth of God, which
thus belies its own pretensions ? If, when it speaks to us of
earthly things, of which we can judge, we find it tripping, who
shall believe it implicitly when it speaks to us of heavenly things ?
And where is the boundary line to be drawn between what is in-
spired and what is not ? between what may be relied on as the
infallible truth of God, and what is mixed up with human imper-
fection and error ? Each inquirer will extend or contract the
limits according to his own particular views. Mr Alford will tell
us that it is only in minor historical details, chronological notices,
&c., that error has crept in ; and in the Evangelists, for instance,
in the arrangement of the different events and discourses as put
together by the compilers.1 But if this concession be granted to
him, what Bright has he to refuse to Neander the farther liberty of
supposing that in some instances the compiler may not have fully
apprehended the bearing of the discourses which he records, and
may have introduced some incongruous element which gives an
erroneous view of our Lord's teaching ?
Once depart from the fixed principle, that " the law of the Lord
is perfect" — that " the Scripture cannot be broken," and we are
launched into a sea of doubts and perplexities. No interpreter
will be consistent even with himself, but will be guided by the
caprice of the moment. Having no longer any sure guide, the
soberest commentators may wander at times into utter extrava-
gances, and attribute even to Apostles themselves belief in the
1 But are these, we would ask, points of no importance ? How different is the hue
which may be imparted to the same events according to the connexion in which they
are presented ! This is precisely one of the weak points of Mr Alford's treatment of
the Gospel narratives. He seems unaware that " events are classified and grouped
according to their inner relations, rather than by their outward circumstances." His
notions of the arrangement are those of time, instead of ideas. [This is evident from
his argument, which would otherwise have no force : " If the arrangement itself
were matter of Divine inspiration, then have we no right to vary it in the slightest
degree," &c. (Vol. I. Pro/eg, p. 17.)] Hence several of the discrepancies which he
finds between the Evangelists are of his own making, such as between Mat. viii. 18 —
ix. 1, and Mark iv. 35— v. 20, Luke viii. 22-39; and between Mat. viii. 19-22, and
Luke ix. 57-60. Many instructive observations on this subject, and on the separate
purposes and mutual relations of the four Gospels, will be found in two recent works,
" The Elements of the Gospel Harmony," — by Brooke Foss Wcstcott, and in Dr
Da Costa's work, referred to above.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM 335
silliest fables of the Rabbins: for instance, that the smitten rock
from which the waters gushed forth to allay the thirst of the
Israelites, literally followed them throughout the whole of their
journeyings in the wilderness.1
Nay, to what length has this theory already conducted Mr
Alford himself ? Whether he is prepared to deny the inspira-
tion of nearly all the writers of the historical books of Scripture,
we are uncertain ; hut he has made an assertion with regard to
Luke's Gospel, which by parity of reasoning virtually amounts to
this. In the Prolegomena to Vol. I. p. 16, he says : — " It is ob-
servable that in the only place in the three Gospels where an
Evangelist speaks of himself, he expressly lays claim, not to any
supernatural guidance in the arrangement of his subject-matter,
but to a diligent tracing down of all things from the first ; in
other words, to the care and accuracy of a faithful and honest
compiler. After such an avowal on the part of the editor himself,
to assert an immediate revelation to him of the arrangement to be
adopted, and the chronological notices to be given, is clearly not
1 We were indeed not a little startled when we lighted on this comment of Mr AI-
ford's on 1 Cor. x. 4, and, notwithstanding the unqualified terms in which elsewhere
(see his note on 1 Cor. vii. 10) he speaks of the inspiration of the apostle, found him
gravely representing Paul in the midst of a passage in which he is professing to un-
fold, " not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth, the deep things of God," and the spiritual import of those symbolic privileges
which had been vouchsafed to the Israelites of old, as mingling with these holy mys-
teries a puerile conceit, and inculcating, seemingly with the same apostolic authority as
the rest of his explanation, belief in one of the silliest fables which even Rabbinical
folly has devised !
Respect for the logical powers of Paul, leaving out of view his inspiration, might
have saved him from such a charge. One great object of the Epistle is to reprove the
Corinthians for that pride of " wisdom" (i. 22) which had led to so many disorders
in their church, and he loses no opportunity of humbling their pretensions to superior
spiritual discernment, and twitting them with their ignorance ; " I, brethren, conld not
speak unto you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto baits in Christ," iii. 1.
" Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?" iii. 16. " Know ye not, that a little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump ?" v. 6. " Do ye not know that the saints, &c. vi. 2.
Is it so that there is not a wise man among yon ?" vi. 5. And in the beginning of this
very chapter, " Moreover, brethren, / would not have you ignorant," x. i. " I speak
as to wise men," x. 15. See also vi. 3, 9, 15, 16, 19 ; viii. 1, 2 ; ix. 13, 24 ; XT. 3 ; xii. l.&c.
Is it then for a moment to be supposed that the great apostle of the Gentiles was so
deficient in tact and judgment, as to counteract the whole force of his reasoning, and lay
himself open to so severe a retort as he was certain to meet with from the opposing fac-
tion in Corinth, had he gratuitously professed a belief, which would find no sympathy
from his Greek converts, in one of the most ridiculous of Jewish traditions ?
336 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
justified according to his own shewing and assertion." Mr Alford
expressly applies this reasoning only to the arrangement and chro-
nological notices ; but every one sees that it cannot be confined
to these, but, if correct as to one point, must apply equally to
every part of the history, as far as Luke is concerned. In short,
his argument amounts to the denial of all inspiration to Luke, as a
writer, and leaves him nothing but the authority due to " a faith-
ful and honest compiler." His details, in his Gospel and Acts —
so far as they have been obtained from " apostolic men," are in-
spired, but liable to the imperfections which they may have con-
tracted in their transmission through a fallible organ. Thus at
once we have deleted from the catalogue of inspired writings the
Gospels of Mark and Luke (and in part of Matthew, see his Pro-
legomena to Vol. I. p. 25), and the Acts of the Apostles, and in
the Old Testament, we suppose, all the historical books with the
exception of the Pentateuch. And on what principle is this most
extraordinary reasoning based ? Does Mr Alford imagine that the
possession of inspiration absolved the writer from the diligent
exercise of his faculties, and the investigation of the subjects on
which he was about to write ? Does the promise that God shall
" work in us effectually," release us from all obligation of working
ourselves ? John has said, in the conclusion of his Gospel, " This
is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these
things ; and we know that his testimony is true." Does John's
appeal to his testimony as being that of an eye and ear-witness
detract from the inspiration of his Gospel ? Are the Books of
Moses less inspired and infallible that the whole of the facts and
events recorded in the four last books came under the immediate
cognizance of the author ? As we have already observed, not a
single fact or reasoning, perhaps, in the speeches of the Apostles
recorded in the Acts, was unknown to them preAdously to the
delivery of their speeches. Was, therefore, the assertion less true,
" It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which
speaketh in you ?"
But the advocates for the theory of partial inspiration will be
ready to rejoin, There are difficulties and apparent contradictions
to be found in Scripture, which our theory enables us to concede
to unbelievers, without endangering the inspiration of the whole
Scripture by arguing for the infallibility of every jot and tittle of it.
SCIUITliu; I'AUAU.KI.Is.M. M~
This, we believe, touches the principal cause of difference be-
tween us and our opponents, who are equally zealous, in their own
way, for the truth of God. They regard the subject in its bear-
ing on the argument with the sceptic : we consider it with refer-
ence to the believer. But we would beg our friends to recollect,
that every advantage which they claim for their theory, we attain
by waiving the subject in the discussion with the sceptic, as one
in which he is not specially concerned. The extent of the inspir-
ation of Scripture is a question for those who admit its Divine
origin, not for him who doubts or denies it altogether. The prin-
cipal ground on which we maintain its infallibility and plenary
inspiration, is the authority of the Word itself. Without enter-
ing on this question with the sceptic, we can urge upon him the
same proofs, for the acceptance of the Bible as of Divine origi-
nal, equally with the advocates for its partial inspiration, while
we do not shock the faith of the plain, simple-minded Christian
by telling him that he must give up as untenable his reliance
on " every word of God as pure," and free from all admixture of
error. If there are a few discrepancies still to be found which we
have not been able as yet fully to reconcile, let us remember how
many more, which seemed at first equally insurmountable, have
vanished on closer examination, and redounded even to the con-
firmation of God's Word ; and let this inspire confidence that
those which still remain will gradually disappear with the light of
advancing inquiry.
But, replies Mr Alford, there are palpable contradictions, which
no explanation can ever clear away. In the Prolegomena to
Vol. I. p. 17, we find him hazarding the following, we cannot
forbear saying, rash assertion : — " In the last apology of Stephen,
which he spoke, being full of the Holy Ghost, and with Divine
influence beaming from his countenance, we have at least two
demonstrable historical mistakes."1 One of the passages to which
he refers is Acts vii. 15, 16 : " So Israel went down into Egypt
1 The italics are Mr Alford's, not ours.— We will not reply with some, that we are
not bound to uphold the correctness of every assertion made by Stephen, as not being
one of the Apostles. We admit the soundness of Mr Alford's implied reasoning, that
any error found in the apologetic discourse of one who spoke, " being full of the Holy
Ghost" (compare also Acts vi. 10), would equally prove the fallibility of an Apostle or
Evangelist.
Y
338 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
and died, lie, and our fathers, and were carried over into Sychem,
and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of
money of the sons of Emmor, the father of Sychem." Now, rea-
soning on Mr Alford's own principles, we should say that it is next
to demonstrable that there can be no mistake in this passage.
In the first place, the improbability is great that Stephen could
have committed such a blunder as that which Mr A. would
here attribute to him. There is scarce a child to be found in one
of our Sabbath schools who does not know that Jacob was buried
not at Sychem, but at Hebron — that Joseph " and his sons carried
him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field
of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a pos-
session of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite before Mamre."
(Gen. 1. 13) — and that it was not Abraham, but Jacob, who " at
Shalem, a city of Shechem, bought a parcel of a field at the hand
of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces
of money." (Gen. xxxiii. 19), Can we then believe, that among
a people so tenacious of the traditions of their fathers, there was
a single Jew to be found in the days of the Apostles, who was
ignorant that the remains of the three great patriarchs of the
nation, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all rested at Hebron, — or that
two such mistakes as are here alleged could even by a slip escape
from one so well read in the Scriptures as Stephen, or would not
have brought clown a storm of ridicule upon his head from an
audience in such a temper as that which he then addressed ?
But the question for Mr A. specially to answer is this. He con-
siders mistakes on minor points of detail as of little or no import-
ance. Supposing then Stephen capable of making such a slip, and
escaping without reproof, was it worthy of Luke to retain in his
report of his speech a mistake which, on Mr A.'s principles, he
must have considered himself fully entitled to correct ? This
were a slavish adherence to the letter equal to the worst he cen-
sures in the Harmonists. What are we called upon by Mr A. to
believe ? 1. That Stephen was so foolish as to risk, by entering
into minute details, betraying his ignorance, of which he must
have been conscious, could he have committed the errors pre-
sumed ; and, 2. That Luke either did not detect the blunders, or
if he did, retained them from no imaginable motive t Ought we
not, before charging men " full of the Holy Ghost" with such a
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 339
discernment, to suspect our own ? It is one thing to
assert that there are apparent contradictions and inconsistencies
in Scripture which have never yet been fairly resolved ; and quite
another to pronounce with confidence that they are utterly irre-
concileable and demonstrably mistaken. The very grossness of
the blunders which Mr A. here supposes, should have checked
the temerity of his criticism, and led him to look elsewhere for
the solution of the difficulty.
If our reasoning be just, it is of comparatively little moment
whether any solution which we have to offer be the correct one
or not To do justice to our view would require more time and
space than we can at present bestow. Suffice it to say, that we
consider the difficulty explicable on the same principle on which
Hengstenberg1 has explained the reference by Matthew (xxvii. 9),
of a prophecy which occurs in Zechariah xi. 12, 13, to Jeremiah,
because the original passage on which Zechariah's is founded, and
apart from which its full meaning cannot be appreciated, is found
in Jeremiah xviii. and xix. — and according to which Mark (ch. i.
2 — following the true reading, which is, " As it is written in the
prophet Isaiah, Behold I send my messenger before thy face," &c.,
see Griesbach, Tischendorf, &c.), attributes to Isaiah a prophecy
respecting John the Baptist, which really occurs in Malachi
(iii. 1), because the original prophecy to which Malachi refers
back, occurs in Isaiah xl. 3 (and is, indeed, immediately ap-
pended by the Evangelist). In like manner, we conceive that
Stephen, following a practice common among his countrymen,
and justly presuming on a full knowledge of the details on the
part of his audience, traces back the act of Jacob to the original
act of Abraham, of which it was the imitation and repetition ;
and seeing in it an evidence of the same faith which had prompted
the purchase on the part of Abraham, attributes to Abraham as
the author, what literally was performed by Jacob. According
to our matter of fact mode of statement, Stephen should have
said, " So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our
fathers, and were carried over," Jacob to Machpelah. and his
sons " into Sychem, and laid," Jacob in the sepulchre that Abra-
ham, in token of his faith, that that land wherein God had hitherto
» Christoloffie, 2<" Theil, pp. 249-259.
340 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
" given him none inheritance," ver. 5, would one day be his.
bought for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite
before Mamre, — and his sons " in the sepulchre that" Jacob,
walking in the steps of the faith of his father Abraham, and
which, therefore, " as I may so say," according to a mode of
speaking common among our countrymen (Heb. vii. 9)1 "Abra-
ham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor, the father
of Sychem."
The identifying of two parties, one of whom resembled the
other in character and dispositions, and attributing the acts of
the one to the other, is a figure far from unusual in Scripture.
Thus John the Baptist is identified with Elijah, because " he
came in the spirit and power of Elijah :" " But I say unto you, that
Ulias is already come, and they knew him not, but have done
unto him whatsoever they listed." (Matt. xvii. 12).
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom ;
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
ISAIAH i. 10.
The rulers and people of Israel are " spiritually called Sodom,"
(compare Eev. xi. 8), because they did the works of Sodom. Christ
is identified with and called by the name of " Israel" (Isaiah
xlix. 3), because he realized the true idea and mission of Israel,
the " servant" of God. " And I will set up one shepherd over
them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David." (Ezek.
xxxiv. 23). The acts of Christ are here referred to David, as
being the " man after God's own heart." " Two nations are in
thy womb." (Gen. xxv. 23). " Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated." " I am the true vine." " I am the door of the
sheep." " This is my body" &c.
If we weigh well this usage of blending together in one, fathers
and children, type and antitype, sign and thing signified, so com-
mon in Scripture, the oriental figure of speech which we here
attribute to Stephen, will cease to sound so strangely, as it does
on first hearing, to occidental ears.
The reason probably which led to its employment by Stephen,
in the present instance, and to his identifying Jacob with his
1 " Anrt, as I may go say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham."
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
forefather Abraham, by ascribing the act of the former to the lat-
ter, will be found in the principal object which he had in view in
the first part of his address. This appears to have been to re-
move the objection of his countrymen to Jesus as the Messiah, on
the ground that they did not see immediately fulfilled in him, and
in the manner which they expected, the great promises made to
Israel. To obviate this objection, he draws their attention to the
unwavering faith of Abraham, who staggered not at the promises
made to him through unbelief, notwithstanding that their accom-
plishment was delayed for several hundred years ; and he goes on
to shew how fully he was justified in this confidence, since all the
time they were gradually advancing, in the providence of God
towards their complete fulfilment. This is evidently the leading
subject for the first sixteen verses, as appears from the beginning
of the 17th. " But when the time of the promise drew nigh,"
&c. Notwithstanding that God gave to Abram " none inherit-
ance in Canaan, no, not so much as to set his foot on," ver. 5, his
faith faltered not, nor that of his true children, as was evidenced
by their being carried out of Egypt to be interred in that bury-
ing place which had been purchased, in a yet strange land, by
Jacob — or, to speak more truly, by Abraham ; for his faith it was
that, living again in Jacob, led him to imitate the original act of
the great patriarch and " heir of the promises."
But, as in the first part of his address he identifies Jacob with
Abraham, in the latter he, in contrast, identifies his hearers with
their unbelieving fathers. Yes, Jacob's act was Abraham's act.
He was a true son of Abraham, and walked in the steps of his
father's faith. But Abraham survives no more ; his spirit is ex-
tinct ; for " if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works
of Abraham." Your true fathers are they who " sold Joseph into
Egypt," ver. 9, who " refused Moses, saying, ' Who made thee a
ruler or a judge ?'" ver. 35, " to whom our fathers would not
obey, but thrust him from them," ver. 39. Yes, you. and the mass
of your unbelieving fathers, are one. " Ye stiff-necked and uncir-
cumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost :
as your fathers did, so do ye," ver. 51.
But Mr Alforcl's assertion, that in Stephen's apology " we hnve
at least two demonstrable historical mistakes," has also reference,
as we find from his note on Matt, xxvii. 9, to another passage in
342 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
Acts vii. 4. " From thence, when his (Abram's) father was dead,
he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell." This is
said to be at variance with the account in Genesis. Here again we
are surprised that the very grossness of the error, which Mr A.
charges upon Stephen and his reporter, should not have awakened
some misgivings as to the accuracy of his own conclusions. " In
Gen. xi. 26," says Mr A., " we read, that Terah lived 70 years,
and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran ; in xi. 32, that Terah lived
205 years, and died in Haran ; and in xii. 4, that Abram was 75
years old when he left Haran. Since then 70 + 75 = 145, Terah
must have lived 60 years in Haran after Abram's departure. It
seems evident that the Jewish chronology, which Stephen follows,
was at fault here, owing to the circumstance of Terah's death be-
ing mentioned, Gen. xi. 32, before the command to Abram to leave
Haran ; — it not having been observed that the mention is antici-
patory. And this is confirmed by Philo having fallen into the
same mistake," &C.1
The calculation is so simple, and the inference so exactly that
which would strike a reader on the first superficial view of the
narrative, that we really must entertain a very low estimate of the
discernment both of St Stephen and of St Luke, if we suppose it
could have escaped them. But are Mr Alford's deductions so
very irrefragable as they appear at first sight ? " Terah lived
seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." Mr A.,
with most modern commentators, at once concludes from this
statement that Abram was the eldest son, and born when his fa-
ther was seventy years of age. Let us apply this reasoning to the
strikingly similar case of Noah, who was the tenth in descent from
Adam, as Terah was the tenth from Noah, and had, in like man-
ner, three sons, one of whom was chosen to be the progenitor of
the " promised seed." In Gen. v. 32, we read, " And Noah was
five hundred years old : and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Ja-
pheth." From this passage we should be very apt to conclude that
Shem was the eldest son of Noah, and was born when his father
was five hundred years old ; and yet, though this order is re-
tained when they are again enumerated, vi. 10, ix. 18, x. 1, we
know that our conclusion would be erroneous. On the first read-
1 Alford's Cvmment. on Acts, vii. 4.
SCRIPTTRE PARALLELISM. 343
ing of Exod. ii. 1, 2, " And there went a man of the house of
Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman con-
ceived and bare a son ; and when she saw him that he was a
goodly child, she hid him three months," &c., our inference would
be that Moses was the eldest child of his parents, until we after-
wards discover from more careful observation, that he was in
reality the youngest of three children. In both cases, the pre-
eminence assigned to the younger over the elder1 is owing to the
more conspicuous part which was assigned to each in the religious
history of the race, and forms an instance of the principle so often
exemplified in Scripture, that spiritual blessings do not follow
the order of birth.
If Abraham be the eldest son, it is contrary to every analogy
in the line of Christ's descent. In the case of all the more dis-
tinguished members, when more than one son is mentioned, we
find that the elder is set aside in favour of a younger 'brother—
in the case of Seth, the third son of Adam — of Shem, the second
son of Noah — of Arphaxad, the third son of Shem — of Isaac, the
second son of Abraham — of Jacob, the second son of Isaac — of
Judah, the fourth son of Jacob — of Pharez, the fourth son of
Judah — of David, the eighth son of Jesse — and of Solomon, the
fourth son of David after he came to Jerusalem. Is it likely that
the case of the most distinguished of all—" the father of the
faithful," who are " lorn not of blood, nor of the wiU of the
jiesh, nor of the loill of man" — was an exception to so general a
rule ?
The presumption then being thus set aside that Abram is the eld-
est of Terah's sons,2 as being contrary to the analogy of the sacred
history, we are left free to follow the natural inference, which but
for this presumption, and the calculation founded upon it, every
reader would have drawn from the order of the narrative in Gene-
sis, namely, that Terah died in Haran, before Abram departed for
Canaan, at the age of two hundred and five years. We have thus
a probable cause assigned of the delay of their journey and deten-
tion in Haran, in the increasing infirmities of Terah and his ap-
proaching death. From the age of Abram on his departure from
Haran, which is immediately subjoined, xii 4, that ther(
• NlLPr alto would appear to be many years younger than Haran, a* he married hi,
daughter, Gen. xi. 29.
344 SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM.
be no break in the chronology, we find that Abrarn was born to
Terah when he was a hundred and thirty years of age. This,
which is usually urged as an objection to the view which we have
advocated, appears to us to be a strong argument in its favour ;
for surely there was a peculiar propriety in the providence that he
from whom the son of promise was withheld till his birth could
be ascribed to the power of God alone, should himself be " born
out of due time," and " spring from one as good as dead."
In conclusion, we hesitate not to express our own unqualified
belief, confirmed and deepened by every fresh examination, that
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and that the Bible
forms one grand organic structure, the work of one Master Archi-
tect, every part of which is worthy of its Divine Author. The
study of Scripture, in its manifold relations and structural con-
nexion, we consider to be still in its infancy. Admitted within
the sacred 'edifice, we have indeed gained a general impression of
its grand and leading features ; but how little of the details have
we yet been able to master, or to trace their bearings on each
other and on the whole ! Look at the general state of knowledge
at the present day of the Old Testament. Survey for a moment
the wide field of prophecy : ho'w much obscurity still rests on
many portions of it ! How little do we yet understand of the vast
typical system in its complexity and connexion as a whole ! * Is
it wonderful then that here and there some little point should
appear that seems to us misplaced or inconsistent — that finite
wisdom should find difficulties in comprehending the work of in-
finite wisdom !
When the student of Scripture draws near to examine the
Divine structure, let him hear the solemn voice of warning,
" Loose thy shoes from off thy feet : for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground !" When he enters its portals, let it be
reverently to inquire, and let him feel assured that the Divine Ar-
chitect, who constructed his tabernacle of old with such minute
precision, that not a loop, not a tache, which united the various
parts of the edifice, was left uncared for or unnumbered, has with
equal minuteness and care directed the hands of the workmen He
has employed in rearing the wondrous structure of his Word.
1 We trust that Mr Worsley will favour the world with a fuller exposition of the
views of which he is evidently in possession on this subject.
SCRIPTURE PARALLELISM. 345
The command to Moses respecting the tabernacle was, " See that
thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in
the Mount." And that pattern descended to the most minute re-
lations of numbers and proportions. Who can doubt that these
which have been recorded with such care, and occupy a series of
chapters in God's Word, have all their significant import, and de-
serve the devout study of competent inquirers ? Let any candid
critic read with care the Symbolik of Bahr on this subject, the
Preface to the Apocalypse of Bengel, in which he unfolds the
wonderful relations of the numbers of that mysterious book, or St
Paul's speech in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, in which he
draws attention to the cycles of years according to which the Al-
mighty has arranged the great events of the world, as he will find
these and still more surprising connexions and parallelisms of pe-
riods disclosed in Mr Browne's Ordo Soeclorum * and however little
he may agree with all the conclusions of these writers, or be satis-
fied that they have done any thing more than open up a subject
of marvellous extent, he cannot, we think, with candour deny that
there are proofs exhibited of a superhuman skill employed in the
arranging and numbering of Divine things — and that He, by
whom the very hairs of man's head are numbered, has adjusted
with exquisite precision even the smallest details of His Word.
When we consider the remarkable symmetry which we have shewn
to pervade the Book of Psalms in its external form, can we doubt
that this is but the index of a still more wonderful symmetry and
connexion that pervade it internally ? If we succeed in proving, aa
we despair not one day to be able to do, should health and leisure
be granted, that the entire series of Psalms, though composed by
various independent authors, is yet combined and adjusted so as
to form one harmonious whole, can we forbear to extend our
views and look forward to the tune when every portion of God's
Great Book shall be found to have been fitted with consummate
skill for the place which it occupies, and " all the building fitly
framed together, shall be seen to have grown unto an holy temple
in the Lord," informed throughout by one and the self-same Spirit
of Him who filleth all in all ?
i Ordo Scedorum. A Treatise on the rkronoloyy of the Ud9 Sartre*. By
Henry Browne, M.A., 1844.
INDEX OF TEXTS EXPLAINED OR QUOTED.
Page
PW»
GENESIS.
Ch. xix. 17, .
277
Ch.
i. 1— ii. 8, .
162-165
178
... xx. 2-12, .
... xx. 2-17,
244
137-158
... xx. 13-17,
229
i 7.
. 88
...
!• 1 )
ii. 1-3,
iii. 6,
iv. 14, 16, .
iv. 22-24, .
v. 82,
vi. 11,13, .
ix. 5, 8, .
x. 1-31, .
47
. 195
129
238
342
. 238
. 238
44
... xxi. 6, .
... xxi. 24,
... xxii. 8, 9,
... xxiv. 7, . •' .
... xxxii.
... xxxii. 18, .
... xxxiii. 13, 14,
... xxxiv. 6, . •
143
232
143
. 137
. 299
4
94
95
• ••
xi. 26, 32, .
342
343
LEVITICUS.
...
xii. 16,
xxi. 28-31, .
38
. 159
Ch. xxiv. 16-22,
... xxiv. 20, .
39
. 232
...
xxv. 23, . . .
* . 340
...
xxvi. 28-33,
• 159
...
xxxii. 2,
. 104
NUMBERS.
Ch. vi. 24, 26,
. 209
... xi. 1, 4, 83, .
. 299
EXODUS.
... xiv. 1, 22,
. 299
Ch.
ii. 1, 2, .
ii. 13, 14, .
vii. 1,
. 343
. 208
. 143
... xx. 10, .
... xxiv. 10,
... xxxii. 13,
. 300
. 209
123
xii. 46,
. 105
...
xiv. 11, 12,
. 209
DEUTERONOMY.
xv. 33,
. 299
...
xvi. 2, 20, 27, • .
xvi. 8,
. 299
120, 178
Ch. iv. 2,
... iv. 25,
150
, 123
...
xvii. 1,
. 299
... v. 21,
141, 150
348
INDEX OF TEXTS.
Page
Page
Ch.
vi. 6-9,
150
Ch. xii. 9,
125
...
viii. 3,
192
... xvi. 10,
121
...
is. 18,
123
... 16, 11, .
178
...
xvi. 18,
. 224
... xix. 8,
51
...
xvii. 2-5,
123
... xx. 1, 22, .
51
...
xix. 21,
232
... xxiv. 1,
122
...
xxxi. 29,
123
...
xxxii. 1-43,
262-272
...
xxxii. 25, 42,
i vti; 21
1 KINGS.
...
xxxiii. 2, . . - .
277
Ch. viii. 47,
293
... x. 7, .
315
JOSHUA.
... xi. 6,
124
Ch.
x. 40, . ' .
279
... xii. 16,
51
... xiv. 22,
124
JUDGES.
... xv. 26, 34,
124
Ch.
ii. 11,
. 124
...
iii. 7, 12, .
124
1 CHRONICLES.
...
iv. 1, . : .
124
...
v. 1-31,
273-281
Ch. xxi. 1, .. . •
122
...
v. 3, .
277
.
...
vi. 1, .
. 124
JOB.
...
x. 6, .
. 124
...
x. 13, 14, .
272
Ch. xxvii. 16, 17,
37
...
xiii. 1,
124
... xxx. 8, . • ^ •'
175
... xiii. 7, • .
332
1 SAMUEL.
Ch.
ii. 24,
315
PSALMS.
...
ii. 30,
261
•• 1 ."T
Ps. i. 1, . . ' I
7-10
xu. 17,
124
...
xiii. 2,
51
... i. 2, ...
9
...
xiii. 6,
277
... ii. 1,3, ' . ' ..
: '; 9
...
xv. 22, 23, .
4
... ii. 1-2, . ' . '
. 61, 67
...
.. iv. 1,
" *""• 19
...
xvi. 15— x vim 1 1,
. 47-55
xx. 19,
124
... x.4, . . .
. *' 156
... xvi. 11,
Y 19
2 SAMUEL.
... xix. 6,
19
... xix. 7-10, .
15
Ch.
iii. 34,
4
... xx. 8,
13
...
iii. 26, 27, 39, .
87
... xxiv. 3, 4
7
rXDEX OF TEXTS.
349
Page
Ps. xxiv. 5,
129
PUO VERBS.
... xxiv. 7-10
20
... XXV.
91-102
Ch. i. ii.,
801-306
... xxvi. 1-3,
97
... X. 1, .
13
... xxvi. 8, .
84
... xxiv. 19, 20,
21
... xxvii. 14,
20
... xxvii. 6,
13
... xxviii. .
82-87
... xxix. 26, .
13
... xxix.
87-90
... xxxiv.
102-105
KCCLE8IASTE8.
... xxxvii.
•«.* 106-114
... xxxvii. 1, 2,
20
Ch. xi. 2,
208
... xxxvii. 12,
. 174
... xxxvii. 14, 15,
111
... xxxvii. 21, 26,
112
SONG OF SOLOMON.
... xxxix. 2, 3,
19
Ch. i. 5,
219
... xxxix. 5,
251
... xl. 5,
27
... xliv. 13-16,
23
ISAIAH.
... li.
115-133
Ch. i.
307-310
... li. 12 (14) .
179
... i. 10,
g40
... Iviii. 2,
86
... i. 3,
20
... Ixxiii. i
... xi. 2,
186
... Ixxiv. 1
Ixxv /CharacteristicWords, 280
... xv. 3, |.
„- xli. 4,
220
86
... Ixxvi. j
... xli. 22-27,
316
... Ixxxi. 12,
8
... xlii. 9,
316
... Ixxxii. 6,
. 143
... xlii. 18, 19, 23,
317
... Ixxxv. 2, 8, 11,
. 172
... xlv. 7,
298
... Ixxxix. 28-45,
40
... xlv. 8,
. 26, 172
... ci. 2, .
20
... xlviii. 3,
316
282-287
... xlviii. 6, 8, .
317
... cv.
287-292
... xlix. 3,
840
... cvi.
292-298
. 1. 8,
298
191
li 1 4. 7
817
... cxv. 4-8,
36
... 11. 1, *, <, . .
... lii. 13-liii. 12, .
311-817
... cxx. 7,
. 208
... cxxxv. 15-18,
35
JEREMIAH.
... cxlvi. 3-10, .
. 63-65
... cxlviii. 7-13,
14
Ch. ix. 4,
87
. . cxxxix. 21, 22,
234, 243
... xv. 10, .
208
... xxxi. 33,
280
350
INDEX OF TEXTS.
LAMENTATIONS.
Ch. i. 1, 2,
EZEK1EL.
Ch. J. 5, .
... xxxiv. 23, .
... xlviii. .
DANIEL.
Ch. v. 19, .
... ix. 4, 5,
Ch. xiv. 9,
IIOSEA.
AMOS.
Ch. i. 3, 6,
... iii. 2, .
MICAH.
Ch. vi. 6-8,
ZECHARIAH.
Ch. ix. 5, .
... xi. 12, 13, .
MALACHI.
Ch. iii. 1, . .
... iii. 8,
MATTHEW.
Page
Page
18
Ch. IV. 1-10, .
194
... v. 3-vii. 27,
196-207
... v. 3-9,
166-194
... v. 10-16, .
207-212
160
... v. 11, 12, .
56
340
... v. 13,
18
161
... v. 16,
19
... v. 17,
214
... v. 17-vii. 12,
214-218
... v. 17-48, .
218-236
38
... v. 17-20, .
219-222
293
... v. 21-26, .
223-220
... v. 21-48, .
229
•
... v. 23, 24, .
33
... v. 37,
228
... v. 38-42, .
233
26
... v. 38-48, .
231-243
... v. 43-48 .
254
... T. 46, 47, .
22
... v. 48,
242
208
... vi. 1-vii. 12,
245-257
239
... vi. 1,
217
... vi. 1-18, .
246-248
... vi. 7-9,
33
... vi. 14, 15,
228
... ri. 19-21, . «, .
34
18
... vi. 19-24, .
249, 250
... vi. 22, 23, .
.. 34
... vi. 23,
212
... vi. 24,
42, 214
... vi. 25-34, .
250-252
38
... vi. 31, 32, .
56
339
... vii. 1-12, .
253-256
... vii. 2,
232
... vii. 6,
43
... vii. 7,
257
... vii. 12,
.,. 214
339
... vii. 13, 14,
57
156
... vii. 13-27,
257-262
INDEX OF TEXTS.
351
I'ago
n«i
Ch.
vii. 16-20, .
213
Ch. vi. 44, 45, .
79
...
vii. 22, 23, .
329
... vii. 17,
82
...
viii. 18-ix. 1,
334
... viii. 14, . .
81
...
viii. 19-22, .
334
... viii. 16,
80
...
viii. 20,
19
... xi. 9, 10, .
24
...
x. 19, 20, .
. 333
... xiii. 1, . .
822
...
xii. 33,
19
... xiv. 6, 7, .
26
...
xiii. 1-50, .
. 134
... xiv. 26,
825
...
xvi. 17,
79
... xv. 18-20,
208
...
xvii. 12,
. 340
... xvii. 14-18,
211
...
xix. 30-xx. 16,
324
... xix. 33, 36,
105
...
xxiii. 37, . .
242
...
xxiv. 11-13,
26
...
xxiv. 32-35,
25
ACTS.
...
xx vii. 9,
. 339
Ch. ii. 23,
65
... iii. 18,
65
MARK.
... iv. 24-30,
. 59-67
... iv. 27,
67
Ch.
339
... vi. 14 . .
214
iv. 35-v. 20,
334
... vii. 4, . .
342-344
... vii. 15, 16,
337-341
... xvi. 34,
181
LUKE.
... xx. 85,
233
Ch.
iv. 1-12, .
195
... xxiii. 26-30,
332
...
viii. 22-39, . - .
. 834
...
ix. 57-60, .
. 834
ROMANS.
...
xii. 24,
. 27
i
...
xiii. 24,
. 258
Ch. i. 21-31, . ..
28
...
xiv. 26,
. 235
... ii. 12-15, .
45
...
xxiv. 47,
242
... ii. 17-29, . . .
. 28-32
... iii.-viii. 2, . .
SO
... iii. 4, .
122
JOHN.
... iii. 31, . .
215
Ch.
i. 16, .
. 174
... v. 5, .
321
v. 17, . .
68, 69, 79
... v. 10, . ..
322
v. 19-30, .
68-81
... viii. 23,
194, 195
v. 31, .
78, 80
... viii. 28-39, *
318-324
v. 33-35, .
79
... ix. 4, 5,
239
v. 36,
79
.., x. 16-18, .
315
...
vi. 39, 40, .
71
... xi. 29,
323
352
INDEX OF TEXTS.
Page
Ch.
xii. 21,
236
2 TIMOTHY.
...
xv. 10,
272
Ch. i. 6, 7,
...
xv. 16,
211
PHILEMON.
1 CORINTHIANS.
Ver. 1-25,
Ch.
i. 22, .
335
HEBREWS.
...
i. 30, . ' ' . . .
195
Ch. iv. 12,
...
ii. 11,. V. '•.
. 175
... vii. 9,
...
ii. 14, .
194
... vii. 27, 28,
ii. 15, .
254
O f\
... x. 30,
...
x. 4, . . . .
. 335
tv. 47-49, .
33
JAMES.
Ch. i. 8, .
2 CORINTHIANS.
... i. 20, .
Ch.
vii. 10,
.i: 169
... ii. 5, .
...
xi. 22-27, .
. 15-17
... ii. 13,
xfii. 14,
. 209
... iii. 13, 18,
•*»
... iv. 8, .
GALATIAN8.
1 PETER.
Ch.
iii. 2, .
316
Ch. i. 22, .
EPHESIAN8.
1 JOHN.
Ch.
iii. 10,
144
Ch. i. 5, .
iv. 18,
21
... i. 6-10,
...
v. 14,
19
... i. 9, . .: . .
... ii. 7, 8,
PHILIPPIANS.
... ii. 16, . -.' .
Ch.
i. 6, .
322
... ii. 19, .
...
i. 29, .
207
... iii. 9, . . • . •;
...
iii. 13,
193
... iv. 20,
1 THESSALONIAN3.
JUDE.
Ver. 2, . / •••••;
Ch.
ii. 13, .
316
...
v. 7, 8,
27
REVELATION.
...
v. 23,
175, 183
Ch. i. 6, . .
... ii. 1-iii. 22,
1 TIMOTHY.
... xxi. 10,
Ch.
i. 5, .
. • 185
... xxi. 16, .
...
V. 4, . . .
144
... xxi. 23, . .
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